Guess Qs coming to Dinner
by Bindi
Summary: When Q finds himself at loose ends he turns to harassing our beloved Captain Riker. Finally done. Dinner is served.
1. The Ivitation

Standard disclaimer applies.  Paramount owns any TNG characters that are mentioned in this story including an annoying letter of the alphabet.   I make no money on this exercise.  Oh, if I could (picture your author dreaming on a cloud)…

Chapter 1: the invitation

The only one thing that Q would admit to at the moment was, he was bored.  Of late he hadn't found much that appealed to him.    There hadn't been much for him to do since he had let the interminable Jean Luc Picard save humanity, for the second time.  Since then he had been left to his own devices.  Oh, he had fathered a child since then but other than that he had a serious lack of activity.  He thought of seeing Janeway again but that would mean that he would have to deal with all of the idiots that ran the inane (in his opinion) bureaucracy known as Starfleet.  Jean Luc was out since he had decided to take a little time away to, get this, father a child.  As much as he enjoyed harassing them, it just wasn't the same as when he also had their crew to play with.  That only left him one option that appealed to him, it was either that or he would have to just sit on his thumbs all day.  He would play with his second most favorite human, Will Riker.  With that dalliance in mind, Q vanished from the continuum.

"Mr. Shanar, what part of 'get them off our tails' don't you understand?"  Captain Riker was not a happy man at the moment.  To punctuate the feeling of anger, he felt the ship lurched again.  This time fortunately Lt. Marks, the man currently flying the ship, had managed to persuade the _Titan_ into an arc that avoided most of the blast.  For almost twenty minutes now he had been trading punches with a _Galor-class Cardassian ship.  The two of them were equally matched and it did not seem likely that they would end this anytime soon.  On the downside, they couldn't just leave.  The Fleet had sent them out here to find several Maquis that were still trying to return to the Federation, now that most of the Cardassian government was in ruins.  They had never recovered from the Dominion War and now many of the colonists that had risen up against them were tired.  Without even the little that the Cardassians had ensured to the colonists many of them did not even have what they needed for basic survival.  It had taken nearly ten years but the Federation had finally sent out a message that if they were willing to return to undisputed Federation space they would be allowed to do so without any fear of having any sort of criminal charge levied on them.  Although an amnesty had been declared when _Voyager _had returned to the Alpha Quadrant several years ago, the announcement had never been widely dispersed.  Unfortunately what was left of the Cardassian military did not like the idea.  That was why it was the __Titan out here and not a non-Fleet ship.  They had retrieved ten people.  Command had told them that there had been eleven this time but never elaborated beyond that.  That left just one person, and no one knew if they were still alive to be rescued._

"Sir, I am trying.  If it weren't for the fact that we are so even with them I might be able to do something.  As it is I am trying to figure out if there is even one spot on their shields that can't take another punch from us."  Lt. Comdr. Shanar N'Ian had been serving as the weapons officer since Riker had assumed command.  He was well aware that the Captain had been simply trying to coax him into trying something that might give them a chance to find the last shuttle and then get out of there.  Not that it really helped him in this particular situation but at least the two of them could trade banter when there wasn't much else that could help.

"Captain, I think I've got the shuttle."  This was from his ops chief, Lt. Lesman.  "There is a Federation impulse signature bearing 216 mark 24, right behind the Cardassians.  She is wounded and I can only pick up one life sign, very faint.  I think that it is human but I could be wrong."

"Marks, get us around those idiots and pick up that shuttle passenger.  As soon as we get him get us out of here.  I think it is time for us to take our ball and go home kids."  That remark got a stare from his Number One.  Commander LeBeau had kept quiet throughout most of the firefight, opting only to give suggestions that were so far out in left field that they actually had worked.  Will knew her well enough to know that the look was the equivalent of asking him if he thought that would be an easy order to follow.  Instead of answering her unspoken question he simply continued with the set of orders that he had decided on.  "Transporter room.  We are trying to intercept a Federation shuttle.  As soon as you can get a lock on the passenger, beam him directly to sickbay."  Then to the Commander he added.  "Would you go down there and assess the person's condition.  If he is conscious find out who he is so that we can tell the Fleet."  She nodded and left the bridge.  This was followed by another blast.  "Report."  Will was getting tired of that word at the moment.

"That one took down our shield by eight per cent.  They are still stable.  At this rate it would take about another hour and a half of this to pose a serious threat.  You would think that they would have something else to throw at us besides what they have been?"  Lesman had inadvertently echoed the Captain's thoughts.  While not exactly a telepath, she had a habit of picking up on loud thoughts.  Will had been thinking the same thing for nearly ten minutes now.

"Captain, I can get us around them, but I have to advise that in order to do so, I will have to break a few rules about how to fly this bird."  On Marks face was an impish grin that told Will all he needed to know.

"I don't know which rule you are talking about Lieutenant?"  With that Will sat back to watch the young man perform what could only be described as a dance.  Within two minutes the _Titan had managed to get around the Cardassian ship and into the farthest ranges of the transporter.  As soon as Will thought they could do it he barked the order to the transporter room.  "As soon as you can, get the passenger to sickbay."_

"I have a lock on them now sir.  As soon as we drop shields I need ten seconds."

"Shanar, drop shields.  As soon as we have them Marks, get us back into Federation secure space."

"He is aboard sir."  As soon as Shanar made the statement the _Titan was heading towards their home._

Will did not manage have two minutes of quiet time before LeBeau paged him.  "Sir I think you and the Counselor should come down here."  He did not like the tone in her voice, or the fact that he felt her bewildered state of mind.

"On my way."

Deanna was not on the bridge during the attack.  She had been on her rotation as night watch commander and was in their quarters.  Their daughter had been staying with Suzie Ogawa during the afternoons after class and was in the Doctor's apartment.  As soon as the attack began Deanna had awakened.  Truthfully, she was actually rather glad that she had not been ordered to the bridge.  Although she was worried about what was going on she had managed to keep herself calm and refrained from intruding.  The only really overt sign that anyone would have noticed, if they could have heard was her telepathically reassuring her daughter that everything was ok.  When the engagement had lasted more than a couple of minutes she had joined the two children in Dr. Ogawa's quarters.  With her with them she was more reassured than if she had been on the bridge.  Unfortunately she had to excuse herself when she had gotten the summons from Will to join him in Sickbay.

She had apparently beaten him there, she did not see him, nor did she feel him nearby.  He apparently had needed to complete job assignments before he left the bridge and she felt that he would be there in less than a minute.  She entered the outer room of Sickbay and gasped.  She did not see any reason for that sound to come from her, yet she knew.  There was definitely a familiar presence in the area.  Only knowing the mind that she encountered had kept her from being overwhelmed.  The last time she had felt him had been almost fifteen years ago, just after the crash of the D.  Taking a breath to steel herself for what she was about to see, she entered the triage area.

Alyssa Ogawa was tending to the patient.  She looked more concerned about his condition than who he was; but then again she had met the man when he was aboard the _Enterprise_ nearly twenty years ago.  Tina on the other hand, looked too stunned to speak.  As for Deanna, she couldn't believe what she saw.  Of all the people for them to rescue in the Cardassian Neutral zone it had to be him.  That wasn't the worst of it, at the moment all she could think about was the condition of the man.  He was burned over a large portion of his body and there were several cuts and bruises.  From the state she determined his mind he was in deep shock, probably from internal injuries.  She did not say anything before she turned to meet Will in the entry.

"Will, I need to tell you who they picked up before you go in there."

He looked at his wife.  She was worried and a little frightened.  He also noted the tone of voice and the mind touch allowing him to grasp without words what he was about to face.  _I understand Imzadi.  I won't do anything rash.  Besides, he might have a different personality than me now but he still actually is a good man, even if his way of showing it is strange.  But you and I are going to have to come up with a new code just in case._

_We won't need to.  Your mind is different than his now.  I would know which of you is which, without it.  It even took me less than a minute to figure it out when he was on Betazed._  She steeled herself again and reentered the room.

"Doctor, how is he?"  Will looked at him as he asked.

"Well he is as hardy as a certain Captain that I know.  He will be ok in a couple of days.  Burns and shock mostly.  I can wake him safely anytime you are ready."  At about this time he realized that his Number One hadn't spoken or even acknowledged his presence since he came in.  "Number One?"

"Sorry Captain.  I don't know what to make of it.  He's you."  The normally confident Commander had a bewildered look on her face, which accompanied the sweeping of her arm in the general direction of the biobed. 

"Truth be told I'm him as well.  We are absolutely identical, even our DNA is a match.  The only way to tell us apart is by telepathy, and possibly by any diseases and mutations that have occurred since he was created.  That is if the Doctor agrees with that assessment."  A small nod came from Alyssa.

"Forgive me for sounding like a your daughter, but how?"

"Transporter accident.  The interference during transport caused Tom Riker to rematerialize on Nervala IV.  He thought the Hood had abandoned him_,_ when I actually had returned to the ship.  He was later recovered, believe it or not, by the _Enterprise and then continued a career in Starfleet.  He joined the Maquis and at one point had even been hijacked by the Romulans from a Cardassian prison.  I last saw him was just after I had been cleared by the Fleet on the crash of the D."_

"Let me guess, this is the rest of the story you didn't tell me before the incident on Dentarus six years ago.  When you had decided to hunt Deanna down because you had stuck your foot in your mouth.  One of these days you are going to have to tell me the whole thing.  Every time I turn around something from that escapade surfaces."

"That's the one."  When it came to needing regs quoted or someone to be a stickler, Tina had been the perfect First officer, however her memory sometimes left him very much annoyed.  "Well to end the story, we didn't know what happened to him.  He disappeared after the plot to assassinate the Chancellor was uncovered.  That was a little over fifteen years ago now.  I wonder what he was doing out here?"  Riker did not like the implications that he was drawing.  The fleet had to have known what was going on; Jellico was the one that sent him out here in the first place.  But then again, Jellico had made a habit of doing things to Will that bordered on sadism.  Someone had to know that one of the expected pardoned was Tom Riker.  Will did not get the chance to finish the thought since there was a burst of light that interrupted him.

A very familiar man was standing in front of the senior command staff of the _Titan_.  As a matter of fact he was still wearing the same Captain's insignia that he had affected the day that Jean Luc Picard first had seen him all those years ago, although he had updated the uniform.  Will had the pleasure of dealing with him several times since then.  If seeing Tom Riker had startled him, this being totally caught him flat footed.  Never in his life had he met a being that could encompass such an irritation in a single letter.  "Q.  Now is not a good time to bug me.  So tell me what you want and get off my ship."

"Au contraire, Mon Capitan Riker.  This is the perfect time to bug you.  You are about to embark on a wonderful adventure.  An adventure that even I cannot manufacture."

"What are you talking about, Q?"

"My, I would think that it is obvious.  Why else would I be here?"

Will could only think of one reason that Q would choose this point to drive him to distraction, and that was his doppelganger on the biobed in the next room.  "OK Q, I give.  Why do you find Tom Riker showing up to be an adventure that even you couldn't contrive?"

Q didn't answer immediately.  Instead he looked at the Counselor.  "Commander Troi, you're the psychologist.  You know how the human mind, as puny as it is, is supposed to work.  What kind of scenario do you see unfolding?"

She actually took the time to consider the implications of what circumstances had arisen.  It only took her a few seconds to find the obvious answers, and the ones that might have very well been correct when they still served on the _Enterprise.  "Q, if you think that there is going to be some kind of human male posturing between them or that I am going to fall for Tom and leave Will you are very mistaken.  You have been annoying us for almost twenty-five years now.  Granted I know that doesn't mean much to you, but by now you know how we work.  Will is a Starfleet Captain and I am his Second Officer.  I think we can handle a little thing like an ex on this ship."_

"You know Counselor, I had almost forgotten how naïve you can be.  You think that all I am talking about here is a romantic interlude?  No, I think you will find that I think that there is much more than that here.  Wouldn't you agree Commander?"  For the first time Q acknowledged Will's First Officer.

"I believe I now know why Will avoided mentioning you before.  With that ego, you would have to leave the room just to say that letter of the alphabet."

"Aren't we the feisty one?  I guess you will just have to figure this one out for yourselves."  No one else had a chance to make another comment as Q absented himself from the room.

"Well, I think he succeeded in distracting me.  Alyssa would you be so kind as to wake Mr. Riker."  Will watched the Doctor as she shook her head, but did as she was asked.  Will was not sure whether it was because of Tom, Q or both.

  


 Tina used that expression life on the _Titan became very complicated.  When you added Tom Riker weird entered the picture.  The two of them would be enough for the __Titan to be in a lot of trouble.  When Q entered the mix, Alyssa was not sure that they would even survive the rest of the day._

  



	2. Small Talk

Chapter 2: small talk 

"Am I on the _Enterprise?"  Tom Riker barely managed to look up into his own eyes before the effort began to tire him.  He knew that he must look like hell but at least at the moment he was alive.  That was definitely a better situation than he thought he should be.  Now all he needed to do was try not to yell while the pain subsided.  The first thing that he saw upon regaining consciousness was Deanna.  Standing just behind her was Will, standing very protectively, without trying to be very obvious about it._

Deanna was the total professional.  She assumed what could only be the psychologist pose and gently spoke to him.  "No, you're not.  This is the _Titan.  Will is the Captain.  Can you tell us how you got out here and why you were pulling that stunt in the shuttle?"_

"Believe it or not I was trying to get back into Federation space.  Now that the Cardassians have decided to leave most of the colonists alone I am finding myself out of a job.  I decided to take advantage of the Federation offer for amnesty."

Even though it sounded legit, Deanna thought that it did not sound quite right.  She knew Tom's mind nearly as well as her husband's.  It was second nature for her to read what his emotional state was, even if he was trying to block her.  She knew that he wasn't exactly lying, but she also had a sneaking suspicion there was a lot more to this than him having holed up somewhere for fifteen years and deciding that he wanted to come home.  From his first question on waking up she knew that he could not have kept up on any current Federation events.  Considering that she and Will had been serving on the _Titan_ for just over seven years now he had to be WAY out of the loop.  Either that or he just plain did not bother to keep track.  Something was nagging at the back of Deanna's mind and at the moment she could not fathom what it was.

"If there is anything that you can think of that might help us figure out why the Cardassians had been trying to keep us from getting to you, or how you managed to end up as damaged as you were let us know."  Will Riker was trying to sound like a professional but it came out more curtly than he expected.  Deanna had seemed very confident in their ability to handle this situation, but he was not as certain.  Tom Riker had almost gotten Deanna killed and even then he was sure that he was still in love with her.  Truth be told he would have to still be.  He too was _Imzadi to her.  The whole thing had always stuck in his craw.  Will was however very relieved to see that Tom understood that it was a dismissal as he turned his attention back to Alyssa.  _

"I will, Captain."  For the moment he allowed himself to finish being examined.  The Doctor touched his neck with a hypospray, and the next thing that he saw was the blackness that he succumbed to as he fell asleep.

As the Doctor returned to the outer offices the three senior officers were conversing among themselves.  The only part of the conversation that was overheard by the Doctor was Tina's comment to Will; 'I have a bad feeling about this.'  Alyssa's heart leapt when she heard it.  Whenever Tina used that expression life on the _Titan_ became very complicated. When you added Tom Riker, weird entered the picture. The two of them would be enough for the _Titan_ to be in a lot of trouble. When Q entered the mix, Alyssa was not sure that they would even survive the rest of the day.

"He's lying."  Deanna made the comment, even though it was probably obvious.

"Are you sure?"  Tina did not give the Counselor a chance to answer.  She answered it herself.  "What am I saying, of course you are.  You just told me that he and the Captain were one and the same at one point.  You probably know him as well as you do Will.  He probably couldn't lie to you."

"Actually, he could if he tried.  Before the Captain was exposed to that virus on Dentarus six years ago, he could manage to keep secrets, and even lie to me on a few occasions.  It wouldn't work for long and we would end up fighting like cats and dogs in the end, but he could do it, at least for a while.  Now that he has been trained in the proper shielding and has some true telepathy of his own, he can lie if he wants to, and effectively.  Tom Riker does not know those techniques, he might be able to keep something from me, but at the moment I don't think he can.  I think that he is not technically lying right now, he really is trying to get home, but he has an agenda that he won't tell."  She paused in an afterthought, "or maybe can't."

"I personally will opt for the second one.  This assignment has stunk from the word go.  First off the command did not come through normal channels it came straight from Jellico.  Someone had to know who was supposed to be out here.  Besides I don't think that Q would be involved with us if it were a case of individual agendas.  He just doesn't go for such mundane things."  As if to solidify the idea he was paged.

"Bridge to Captain."  This was from Lt. Heath, the chief science officer.

"Riker here."  He could tell from the tone of her voice that he was not going to like what she had to say.

"Sir, there is an eyes only communiqué for you from command."  After six plus years on the _Titan_, Karen Heath had learned that something like this, while not always life threatening meant that there was going to be one hell of a storm.  Knowing that once again she would have to face a situation that could be very hazardous, she still harbored no regrets about joining this crew.  She had even gone so far as to go to go to the Academy for the two terms that she needed to finish the commission.  At the moment, while she did not have much else to do, she pondered what would happen when the Captain read the message.

"On my way.  I will take it in my ready room.  Riker out."  Before leaving the two lovely ladies at his side he spoke with them.  "I know he had been granted amnesty, but I would still feel safer if you detailed someone to keep an eye on him."  Privately he added to his wife _I also think that it would be a good idea if Julie were kept away from him, at least for now.  I want to know what he is up to before he gets a chance to run amuck on my ship.  And as for her, I don't know how she would be able to tell us apart._

_I think I have an answer for that.  While she could speak to him telepathically, I doubt that he could hear her or return speech.  The only reason that you can is that virus that left you telepathic.  He might be able to learn, but last I remember he could barely speak to me.  He has no ties to Julie.  If you weren't her parent, and had not gotten yourself genetically manipulated you would not be able to speak to her either.  She'll know._  Out loud she told him, " We will take care of it."

As Will expected, the message was the opening gambit in an elaborate chess game.  First the message was from Adm. Necheyev.  While not an Admiral that Riker disliked, the woman was known for having her hands in several covert pies at any given time.  The only true strike that Will held against her was assigning Jellico as the Captain of the _Enterprise when she commandeered Picard, sending Will on the path of no return with the temporary Captain.  Since the meeting all those years ago, the Captain of the __Titan had learned to expect the intelligence sector (known or just speculated) to be involved almost every time he heard her name mentioned._

The second thing that gave away the Fleet playing games with him was the message itself.  Never once was Tom's name mentioned.   It merely stated that all but one of his refugees were to be taken to Starbase 12 as planned, while the remaining one was to be taken to DS9.  Since there was not any name mentioned, Will could only assume that it should be obvious to him who the other passenger was.  That only left Tom Riker.  Not only was he to go to DS9, he was not even to report to the station commander.  Instead, he was to report to the Starfleet liaison, Commander Elias Vaughn.

Vaughn was another enigma.  The man was well over 100, and still a very active man.  As few as 10 years ago the man could mop the floor with Will, and hold his own against Worf if he had wanted to.  He had known Deanna and her mother since before Deanna's birth and had served with her father before his death.  On top of that he was another person that Will knew had been involved in the intelligence community.  Given what he had seen, it was a foregone conclusion that they were in for an interesting mission.  Add Q to the pot and it was no longer interesting, but most likely dangerous.  Will was not given the opportunity to continue his thought as the ever-familiar light that was Q's calling card heralded his arrival.

"Q!  Damn it!  Can't I do anything without you sticking your nose in it right now?"

"Captain, I am offended.  I would think that you would want me to offer my assistance."  Q affected an enigmatic smile.  "You only have two pieces of the puzzle.  I would think that you are one of the few people that I know that would be champing at the bit to try to find out all of what is going on.  I know you would enjoy having all the answers ahead of time.  Who knows, foreknowledge might even save you not only your precious ship, but even so far as your precious Starfleet."

"Q, in all these years haven't you learned that if you want to see how we are going to do something that it is best to leave your clues without making it seem like an offer we should not refuse.  If I wanted the answers on a silver platter I would have become a Q when you gave me the chance.  Right now, I know you are curious as to what I think is going on and how I am going to handle the situation.  For the time being just leave me the hell alone.  I could care less if you wanted to stay and watch.  If you genuinely want to help at the moment, stay out of my way and let me figure this out on my own."

"I can say that I am touched, Captain.  You seem to actually care about my feelings, as well as keeping me entertained.  For that I'll give you a clue that might get that little hamster wheel in your head going.  Tom Riker is the key to solving this, but he is not the most important character."  With that Q again left the Captain to his thoughts. 


	3. Tea and scones

Chapter 3: tea and scones

            "Captain?"  The page came to Riker, just as Q left his office.

            "Yes, N'Ian."  The security chief could hear the frustration in his commander's voice.  "Sir, I think that you need to see this.  According to our sensors, something just materialized on our hull.  If I am looking at the visual correctly, there is what appears to be a human on our saucer."

            "Pipe it in here."  Even knowing whom it was did not prepare the Captain for what he saw.  Not only was Q standing on the saucer, he was setting what looked to be a proper tea.  The table was laden with a tea set, scones, crumpets, and other manors of treats.  Q finished pouring himself a cup and sat down, peering at the stars streaking by.  

            "Well, at least he didn't ask me to join…" The sentence was not finished before Riker found himself ensconced at the table next to Q.  "…him."  The upside to this turn of events was that Will had dealt with Q enough over the years to be rather non-plussed at finding himself seated on the hull of the saucer of his ship, in deep space, without an EVA suit, and traveling at warp 7.  "Ok Q, is there a reason that you have decided that it is tea time?  And for that matter why are you on the hull of my ship, and why did you drag me out here?"

            "Can't I just have tea with my second most favorite person in this universe?"

            "No, you can't.  No matter what, you have some sort of agenda up your sleeve.  So, with that in mind, tell me what you are dying to, or let me go back to my office."

            Ignoring the jibe, Q offered the pot to Riker.  "Earl Grey?  Jean Luc got me addicted to the stuff."  Q noticed that Riker had more or less acquiesced.  "Since you insist on dragging it out of me, it's your daughter."

            Will Riker nearly jumped off into deep space.  He had survived everything that Starfleet and several others had thrown at him.  The closest he had ever felt to the fear that was in his throat had been when Deanna and Alexander were poisoned.  Even then he had maintained most of his ability to think.  For Q to even mention his Pumpkin in a conversation frightened him more than anything before in his life ever had.

            Q, for once in his existence, felt sympathy for Will Riker.  He may be nearly omnipotent, but being a father had given him the ability to understand what was going through the Captain's mind.  "She is why Tom Riker is the key to your puzzle.  All parental pride aside, you know that a ¼ Betazoid should not be as precocious as your daughter, for that matter, your wife alone in an enigma among her people.  And we are not even going to mention you mother-in-law."

            "Is there a point to this exercise Q?  If there is, make it."  Will had lost the initial fear, but it had been replaced by anger.  

            "I will tell you this, watch your precious Julianna.  Her reactions, and interactions, with your doppelganger will save your beloved ship."

            Will found himself in his office.  The only differences from where he had been before were the cup of Earl Grey in his hand, and a very upset security chief.

            "Sir, is everything all right?"  Lt. Comdr. Shanar had been in Starfleet for over ten years now and seven of those as the security chief on this ship.  He had seen all manor of activity in those years, but this was the first time that his commanding officer, or any member of his crew, had just appeared on the hull of his ship apparently to have tea.

            "Staff meeting now."    

            "Q is known for being a trickster."  Deanna began the brief as soon as Will had called the meeting to order.  According to visual, the being in question was still having his tea on the hull of the saucer.  "Not just a benevolent one either.  Even though he usually is trying to help, when he is involved things tend to get very messy."  She glanced at everyone at the table.  Except for her, Will, and Dr. Ogawa, the only one that had any real experience with Q had been Ben Varga the chief engineer; and even that was very little.  Ben had been a junior engineer on _Voyager_ while she was in the Delta Quadrant.  Q had visited then Captain Janeway a couple of times while they were there.  Fortunately for Ben he never had to deal with the being himself.    For everyone else she was going to have to give a history lesson on events that both her and the Captain just as soon forget.  "Since he was first encountered by the _Enterprise_ in 2364, he has place humanity on trial twice, with the result of if humanity were found guilty they would cease to exist.  He has also sent the senior staff of the same ship into a Robin Hood scenario, played cupid (groans from around the room) as well as several other events, including offering our Captain the Q power.  He once had his powers removed from him by the other Q, and was left on the _Enterprise _on that occasion as well.  That situation was one of two in which I have personally seen him humbled."

            "And the other?"

            Leave it to the science officer to pose that question.  Deanna paused just long enough to take a deep breath, giving her a chance to figure out how to phrase the response.  "There was a second person that he offered the Q power to was a Betazoid, my mother.  She took him up on the offer."  Everyone could see where this was going next.  Lwaxana Troi was as infamous on this ship as she had been on the _Enterprise.  Deanna tried not to look at them and continued.  "They had a personality clash.  In the end he tried to remove her powers and found that he couldn't.  The other Q thought he could use a lesson.  The result of this was a very humiliated Q."_

            "And Lwaxana with an inflated ego."  Will's comment garnered several looks from the crew, as well as one from his wife that made him wince.

            "Yes it did do that."  Deanna could only sigh.  "Anyway, Q has shown interest for the most part only in the _Enterprise_.  From what I have ascertained, besides what I personally have been involved with, Q has only messed with Starfleet a couple of other times."

            "Now he's interested in us."  Will took over for his wife.  "Specifically in one of our passengers and my daughter.

            "Where is Julie?"  Now "Aunt" Tina spoke.

            "In my office with Suzi and one of my assistants Lindsay.  I figured that it would safer to have them watched.  I would have left them with Katie, but she is on duty in the Security office right now or I would have left them with her."  Deanna figured that Tina would want to get them whenever one of them left the meeting.

            "Any idea of what Q wants?"  This was from Varga.

            "All we know is that he told me a few minutes ago that one of the people that we picked up is important and that Julie's actions with him are the key to something very important."

            "Which passenger?"  That came form Shanar.

            "His name is Tom Riker."

            "Any relation?"

            "You could say that.  Tom is an exact duplicate of myself.  It is a long story but we are absolutely identical, at least until six years ago."

            "Why six years?"          

            "Right now this is just speculation on my part.  Dr. Ogawa believe that the only way that someone would medically tell us apart would be if there had been some sort of viral mutation or some sort of damage that could not have been healed.  When I was exposed to that virus on Dentarus IV six years ago it rewrote some of the pathways in my brain.  Those changes should not be in Tom Riker.  So hopefully I am once again completely unique.  The thing is though, on standard security checks, like retinal and voiceprint, we are still going to register the same person.

            "We know that there is something afoot at the moment.  After we drop most of the refugees off at Starbase 12 we are to put it into high gear and get to DS9.  There we are to give Mr. Riker to the Starfleet Commander stationed the, Commander Vaughn.  From there I do not know.  Command has not given us an itinerary."

            "Any suggestions no how to proceed at the moment sir?"

            "I think for right now all you need to worry about is getting us to Starbase 12.  I don't foresee Q doing much of anything else at the moment.  Just one bit of advice Shanar, just take it in stride if something strange happens.  Me showing up on the hull for a spot of tea is a minor inconvenience all told."

            "Aye, Sir?"

            "If there aren't any more questions, I would like to see every one tomorrow at 1130 hrs.  That's one hour before we reach 12.  Dismissed."

            One hour later, Counselor Troi found herself standing in front of the temporary quarters that had been assigned to Tom after he had been released from sickbay.  He would be a few days recovering but for the most part he was now healthy.  Pushing the door chime she waited.  

            "Come."

            The near identical way that Tom used that word startled her.  She had to remind herself not to rely on the physical.  Walking through the door she called out, "Tom can I talk to you?"

            "Deanna, you are always welcome.  Of course you can."  Motioning to the couch in the living area Tom to a seat on the opposite side.

            "Before I ask you about how you came to be here I need to talk to you."

            "About what?"  He was wearing the impish grin that always sparked a smile from Deanna, whether it was Will or Tom that sported it.

            "About what's happened since the last time that we saw each other."

            "How long?"     

            "How long what?"

            "How long have you and Will been married?  Granted, I have been WAY out of the loop for nearly fifteen years, but it is obvious.  The Captain was very protective of you when I woke up in sickbay.  And when you sat down I saw the wedding ring."

            "Seven years."  She felt the pang of regret from Tom.  "Tom, I'm sorry.  I know it really bothers you. I…" she faltered, "… just don't know what to say.  I don't want it to be a problem with how you handle your debriefing.  If you think it will be, I can assign one of my assistants or Commander LeBeau has offered to do it, even though it is my job as counselor and second officer on this ship."

            "It's ok Deanna, we can do this.  I just never really considered that you would marry.  For some reason, in the back of my mind I thought that you would wait for me.  No matter how much I look at my life as the road not taken, I always thought that you would be there for me.  For all the heart ache though, I can honestly say that at least you didn't settle for less than the best."  Before she could respond to him he continued.  "Regardless of where we stand I still need to get something off my chest before we go into my debrief.  I want to tell you how much I regret what happened with us the last time that I met you.  I really am sorry for what happened.  I honestly did not know they were going to try to kill you."

            She had been letting her empathy guide her reactions to this point.  "I know how important that it is for you to say that.  I can not forgive you for what happened to me then.  You nearly got me killed.  I am however willing to leave it in the past.  While I cannot forgive you, in many ways I am glad that the entire incident happened.  There are many things in my life that would be different now if they hadn't happened.  I most likely would not be here if it hadn't.  But this conversation's not about me, it is about you.  So, let us get down to business.   Your explanation about just wanting to get back in Federation space is not washing with me.  Why are you coming back now?"

            "Look, I just want to go home.  I have had quite a long time to think, again, and I found that I have several things that I needed to try to make amends for.  The most important of them being to you, and you can't accept that I am trying to make atonement.  I should have expected that you would not be able to forgive what had happened, but I had hoped that you might.  But that you are willing to speak to me at all is better than I feared.  

            "Believe it or not, the other thing that I wanted to do was go home."

            Deanna was hearing both with inner and outer ears what he had been saying.  He was still lying about why he was here now, but his entire need to make amends had been genuine, or at least he believed them to be.  They may not have been the main reason why he was here now, but they were the motivation behind whatever he was doing.  Now she was going to have to give him another shock.  "Kyle died three months ago, Tom."  From the emotions that flooded her she knew that he took the news harder than Will had.  Then again, Will and Kyle had managed to patch things up several years before his death.  Kyle had even had a chance to take interest in Julie, although he never knew that Deanna was pregnant with his first grandson, she only found out two weeks before he died.  Now Tom had heard the news of the death of his father.  New raw emotions flooded Deanna, and there was not much that she could do to comfort him.  What she could do however was hold him while he broke, which was what she did.

            After a few minutes she began to open her mind to him, just enough for him to see that she shared in his grief and that it was ok for him to mourn.

            _Mommy?_

_            What's wrong Little One?  Julie had been very good about not bothering her while she had been on duty so the contact startled Deanna enough that she almost let Tom hear the contact._

            _Why is Daddy crying?  I felt him, but he won't answer me when I try to talk to him.           _

_            Sweetie, I think that there is someone that you need to meet.  Now I need you to do two things for me.  First, go get your Aunt Tina.  She is in sickbay with Alyssa.  Then I want the two of you to meet me in my office._

_            Daddy's ok, isn't he?_

_            He's fine, but we need to talk.  Deanna could tell that Julie thought something bad had happened or that she was in trouble.__  Everything is fine, and you are not in trouble.  __I will see you in a few minutes._

_            After she disengaged with her daughter, Deanna turned her full attention back to Tom.  He had managed to stop emoting as much and the tears had begun to dry themselves.  He sat back up just as she had assessed his emotional state._

            "Why did you do that?"

            "Tom, we have had our problems, but believe it or not I still care about you.  I would have to be empathically blind and have a lobotomy to not care.  Now, are you ready to move on?"

            "I think so.  So, is this the part where you start asking me questions about what has happened since Betazed?"

            "Not yet.  Right now I am still just Ship's Counselor.  I have to deal with a problem that has just arisen, that concerns you and another crewmember.  No, the official part of the debriefing will have to wait until this is addressed.  We are going to move this conversation to my office."

            As they left she sent a tightly shielded thought to Will.  Unlike talking to Julie, there was a much greater chance that Tom could overhear what she said since their thought patterns were so similar.  _Will?_

_            Imzadi, what's wrong?_

_            Julie just empathically confused Tom for you.  Could you manage to get off the bridge for a bit and meet us in my office in ten minutes?_

_            Provided Q doesn't get in my way.  Thompson can manage without me for a while.            _


	4. Setting the Table

Chapter 4: setting the table 

            Commander LeBeau sat next to her godchild.  For a five-year old the little girl was very smart.  Her speech was closer to that of a ten-year old, and now that she was getting a handle on her mental gifts, she was definitely showing her ability to help others.  She was very much like her mother in that respect, and probably would make an excellent counselor herself. She definitely had the instincts for it.  Conversely, she was so strong willed that she could give her father lessons in stubbornness.  At the moment Tina was getting a full dose of the Riker tenacity, and it was worse than any fight that Will and her had during her tenure as his Number One.  First off, Julie was absolutely positive she heard her father.  Tina had known the moment that Julie had told her what happened that the girl had picked up on Tom Riker, and whatever had been going through his mind.  She could not tell her that in so many words so she had tried other ways to convince the girl that she had misheard.  But Julie would have nothing of the idea.

            It did not matter what Tina tried; Julie would hear nothing about it.  She was convinced that everyone was lying to her and that something bad had happened to her Dad; either that or she had done something really bad and he was very mad at her, and would not speak to her.  Tina had even suggested that she use the ship's intercom system to call him, but even that got the response of no.  Julie just plain refused to listen to anyone but herself._  Stubborn Rikers, one and all of them, in-laws included,_ she added the last for good measure.

            As if the thought of a Riker had summoned him, Tom Riker walked into the office, with Deanna not too far behind him.  Tina was only sure it was Tom by the clothes.  Now that he had been treated and cleaned up, she could not tell them apart.  Currently he was in a loose pair of slacks and a shirt.  If it had been Will he would still be in uniform.  By the time she had processed this Julianna had leapt off the couch.

            "Daddy!"  She had almost jumped into his arms but stopped herself.  "You're not my Daddy."  She looked on the verge of running away from Tom, but she controlled the impulse.  

            The two women that were witnesses to the exchange watched the child as she gathered herself together.  If the situation had not been as important as it was Deanna would have allowed herself to feel an enormous amount of pride in how well she was handling the situation.  In fascination Deanna watched her daughter as she straightened her posture and assumed a pose that was not unlike one that Deanna used in first contact situations when she had been startled or frightened at the onset.

            "You are not my Daddy, but you are the one I thought was him a few minutes ago.  Your mind is like his, and you look like him too.  Who are you?"  While she still looked ready to flee if she had to, Julie now seemed to feel like she had some control over what was going on.

            Tom looked at Deanna.  "I guess this was the crew member that you had to deal with."  He looked into her eyes, an attempt to get permission to speak to the little girl that was obviously Deanna and Will's daughter.  He saw a small nod, and took on of the seats that were available in the office.  "My name is Tom.  Your parents and I have known each other for a long time.  So, what's your name?  They have been busy and we haven't had much of a chance to talk yet."

            "Julie."  She looked at him.  "Why are you so sad?"

            Instead of answering he looked at the women in the office.  He assumed that the other one was the Commander LeBeau that Deanna mentioned.  He then began to carefully try to phrase the answer so that the little girl would not be frightened of him.  The last thing that he wanted was to hurt the girl.  Technically, she was not his daughter, but nonetheless he instinctively felt as protective of her as if she was.  "Well a lot has happened lately.  I guess it was too much to think about at once, so I am kind of sad."  Tom noticed that Deanna had taken a seat herself and had been watching the whole exchange not only with the worry of a mother, but as a Starfleet commander.  He now addressed her, noting with amusement that now that Julie had asked her question she was climbing into her mother's lap.  "I guess I am not the only one that has had a lot of things happen to them."  He held an angry gazed at Deanna.  "Why did you decide we needed to meet?  And for that matter were you even going to tell me about her?"

            While normally Deanna would not be too baited by this she took what had been handed to her.  "We weren't going to tell you.  We had figured that we would deliver you to Starbase 12 and that would be it.  But there were a few complications, not the least of which was her."

            "How?  I mean what did she… oh, I think I understand.  She said that she thought I was Will earlier, and then she asked me why I was sad.  She's an empath."

            "She is an empath and a hand full all right.  She started show the empathy about nine months ago.  On top of that when Kyle Riker died three months ago she started showing telepathy to a lesser degree.  When she felt you, she tried to reach you through telepathy and you couldn't hear her, Will can.  She was upset and called me.  Between what she just did and Q, I decided that you two needed to meet now."

            Just as she finished Will walked into the office.  Julianna practically flew into his arms.  _Pumpkin!  Am I glad to see you._

            "Daddy!!"  Mentally she added, _I think that I like him, but something is off.  I get a feeling that there is something that he wants to say but he feels like he can't._

_            I know Pumpkin.  I am very proud of you.  Verbally he spoke, "Tom, I see you've met Julianna.  She just gave her mother a bit of a scare.  Now given what just happened, I think that you need to be straight with us and tell us why you are here."  He nodded to LeBeau, "Number One, would you mind going and relieving Katie on the bridge.  With Q hanging around I would feel better if you, Deanna or I were on the bridge right now.  Take Jules with you.  I am sure you can find something to keep her out of trouble and maybe be useful at he same time."_

            From his hip there was a squeal, Julie loved being on the bridge and Will knew it.  While not the best place for a little one, she was so curious and smart that she was learning a bit of ships operations and piloting already.  "Can I watch Mark fly the ship?  The last time I was there he was showing me."

            "If he doesn't mind, but don't bug him too much."  He tweaked her nose and handed her off to Tina.  Will watched as two of his favorite people left the room, one on the hip of the other.

            "Now that she is out of active earshot, talk."  Will sat down.

            "I don't know what I can tell you."

            "Start with why Adm. Nechayev ordered us to take you to DS9 instead of Starbase 12 like the rest of the refugees that we picked up on that run."  There was a bristle in the Captain's voice.  " I think that you would understand when I say that I do not want to take this ship into an unknown situation without learning all that I could to protect her.  Not to mention, the last time you were on DS9 you stole a friend of mine's ship.  So, with those in mind, tell me what I need to know."  Will purposely phrased his statement to trigger the training in Tom.  Need to know was the catch phrase for classified information.

            "After the Dominion War the Cardassians were in a sorry shape.  Truthfully, as far as I had been concerned, I could have cared more about a vole than I did about the people.  Their colonies were experiencing every ravage that could be thought of, from starvation and drought, to disease and plague.  Eventually the medical supplies that were still being stolen to care for our people were no longer needed.  Without any effective Cardassian rule federation colonies were starting to recover, and even some trade was beginning to trickle in.  Those supplies were no longer needed by the border colonies, so we began to go father into the Neutral Zone to see if others needed any assistance.  One day we found ourselves past the Neutral Zone and in undisputed Cardassian space.  I thought that I had seen some pretty bad things in my time, but what I saw there would have appalled anyone.  There were several colonies where the people were grotesquely deformed.  Even children were dying in the streets and there was nothing I or anyone else could do to save them.  At first we thought it was a plague, and our doctors started to run tests.  What they found was that it was a plague of sorts.  Every body that was examined had been genetically changed in some way."  

            Tom was becoming more distant as he spoke.  At the same time he was overtly becoming more passionate.  Will recognized one of his own defense mechanisms.  Tom had the same way of coping with trauma that Will had.  He had never realized that he did it himself until Deanna pointed it out to him after a particularly gruesome campaign during the war.  "So why do they want you now?"

            "I couldn't just sit there, I had to do something.  I got too nosy for my own good.   I found out more than the Cardassians wanted to let out.  I barely made it out with my life.  I used my contacts to get a message to Starfleet.  I got the word back that there was to be a discreet escort for me and there would be a general amnesty at the same time.  However, I would hardly call this discreet."

            "So you are saying that you knew we were coming, yet you thought that you were on the _Enterprise_."  Deanna had been watching him, trying to catch him at anything deceptive.  So far, everything that he had said so far had been true, at least from his point of view.  She knew that he had only scraped the tip of the iceberg with his knowledge of what he had witnessed, but the more he talked the more she could see that he was guarding his thoughts just enough that if he wanted to he could block her out.  It was the same as when Will had to keep her from accidentally finding out information that he had been told was classified.

            "Not exactly.  I just knew that someone would be out here to meet me; that and they would be able to get me to the people I was supposed to get in contact with.  The reason that I thought it was the _Enterprise_ was because of you Deanna.  I just could not see you serving on any other ship."

            "You know the _Enterprise _that you were on crashed a few weeks before you came to Betazed the last time."

            "I know.  That was how Sela knew that you were on Betazed in the first place.  I figured that there would be another ship to bear the name, and if there was you would serve on her."

            "Will and I both served on her for just over eight years.  When we married seven years ago, Will took command of the _Titan and I took the spot of Second Officer."_

            Will interrupted his wife.  "Can we continue this later.  Right now we have a mission, and a puzzle that Q left us to solve.  I would like to see how much of it can be figured out before we reach Starbase 12, or Q shows back up."  


	5. Appetizers

Chapter 5  - Appetizers

            LeBeau and Troi sat in companionable silence in the Saucer Lounge. Julie had finally fallen asleep.  Deanna had decided that since things were quiet at the moment she would allow herself a little alone time before starting her shift.  Even though she had been looking forward to the alone time she had been pleasantly surprised when Tina had joined her.  Now the two of them sat, thinking to themselves, enjoying the silence that only comes when friends are close enough to not need to speak.

            Deanna was having trouble with the situation that had presented itself.  Even with the entire mess that had been tossed into her lap, she was not dwelling on what most people would have thought obvious.  Yes, Q hanging around bothered her, but it was just one of those things that she had gotten used to even before she came to the _Titan_.  After Will had confided to her that Q more or less admitted that he was bored she felt more at ease.  Q may be a troublemaker, but when he was not trying to convict humanity for the crime of just being there, his interference generally did not cause too much harm.

            Even Tom Riker wasn't that much of a problem.  She hadn't just been making the right noises as a counselor when she had told him that she still cared.  She really did.  In a way she could not escape the fact that he too was _Imzadi_ to her. To this day no matter how many times she told herself to get past it, the idea weirded her out.  She was probably the only person in the history of her planet that could say that there were two that were her _Imzadi_.  After their meeting though, she was at least sure that there were no romantic feelings involved.  Despite her bravado and confidence earlier she had not been positive that that was the case.  He had in fact nearly gotten her killed.  But he had been telling the truth when he said that he did not know the events would unfold as they did.  Also in his favor was that fact that Worf didn't act to save her either, and the two of them were engaged at the time.  She understood why Worf had done what he had, but just that he had made the choice helped to place Tom's part into perspective.  No, in spite of the bad blood between them she still had an instinctual feeling that he was a decent man and worthy of her friendship.

            One would think that these two problems would be the center of her attention, but the weren't.  It was the kid.  Julie was an extremely intelligent child, and her empathic senses were nearly as strong as her own.  Given maturity, they might become stronger than Deanna's were now.  Julie's instincts had said to trust Tom.  Given how readily she had gotten past Tom's appearance and almost identical mental make-up to her father, Deanna knew that her daughter had picked up on something. What, she was not sure, but when a five-year old showed that kind of trust she knew to give it merit.  Children were notoriously good judges of character.  When that child was also an empath, one would be a fool not to listen.  That was the line of thought when Tina came out of her little world.

            "I'm not getting it Dee.  I can't figure out why Q would want to get involved with us now."

            "I don't know either.  This whole thing is a little strange, yes.  Most likely involving a certain amount of mystery, but not even enough of that for Q to even blink.  It might be different if this had been the first time that we had seen Tom, but we have known about him for quite a while now.  The only thing that I can think of is that Q knows something that we don't, which knowing him is a distinct possibility."

            "I guess we need to just wait it out."  She faded off again as she sipped on her tea. _ There has to be something that I am missing.  Q had said that Julie's interactions with Tom would save the ship.  That is certainly a vague enough statement.  Maybe she is going to say or do something at just the right time._  "What is Jules going to do?"  She had muttered the question to herself and did not realize that Deanna had heard her.

            "What?!"

            "Sorry, thinking out loud I guess.  Will said that Julie and Tom were the keys.  What if we focus on them as themselves instead of the mission itself?  We have two days after we leave 12 before we get to DS9.  Why don't we see what happens between the two of them?"

            "I hope you are not suggesting that they spend a lot of time together.  Tom isn't a bad person, but I am not sure that I trust him to be around her too much, and definitely not without a chaperone.  Will would have a cow."

            "Actually I was thinking all of us.  Tom does not know that I am a telepath.  The same goes with Will.  I know that he has a lot of trouble hearing people that he does not know very well, but I would be willing to bet that if there were a non-telepath that he could pick up on, it would be Tom.  He might even be able to hear him as well as he hears you."

            "You might be right about that.  However there is no precedence for this.  As far as I know this is the only time that there have been two completely functional individuals that had previously been one.  But I think you have a valid point.  If there was a non-telepath that Will would be able to hear, it should be Tom.  I know my mother did a very good job at placing the mental blocks that had been necessary after Will was given that virus.  He probably would not have been able to return to command for at least several months, if ever, otherwise.  He might have been able to learn to control it eventually without help, but I doubt it.  The blocks were very thorough.  If he wants to use telepathy with anyone but me, he has to really work on it.  As far as I know he can't read non-telepaths except in the broadest sense.  Even with other telepaths, except Julie, he has to really concentrate.  That's why he rarely uses it.  I would have to ask him, and I am not sure is he would feel comfortable trying.  I will broach it when I relieve him."  As she finished her drink she stood to leave.  "If he goes for the idea, he will probably stay late.  Would you mind checking on Julie for me?"

            "I'll go there instead of my quarters.  I'll pull the babysitter routine and grab a few winks on your couch until Will comes in."

            "Go grab a change of clothes.  If your are out, Will might just leave you there.  He tends to go with the idea of letting sleeping things lie." 

Tom was not sure how to deal with this.  He couldn't tell anyone the real reason why he had come back to federation space.  What he had told Will and Deanna had been stretching the boundaries.  The thing was, if he hadn't had told at least some of the background Deanna would have known.  Not only would he have wounded her more than he had already, she would have demanded that he be placed in the brig.  So what he had done was a trick that he had discovered over the years.  He let out the truth in such a vague fashion that the sentiments would show as telling the truth.  With Deanna, what most likely be seen was that he was not lying but was covering up information.  He hoped that she would leave it at that and would assume that the message that had been relayed to him suggested he not even tell the Captain what he had seen.

.           Not that he hadn't wanted to tell them everything.  Every child that he had seen die, every mother that had cried with relief when her infant did not survive the night.  Every twisted plant, animal, and person that he had seen walking, or even just lying in the street.  All of this and more he had wanted to spill to them.  He wanted them to know what they truly were facing.  However he was stopped by duty.  Five years ago, an operative for the intelligence sector discovered him.  The man personally did not know of Tom's history, and had asked his superiors to recruit him based on the similarity he had to Will Riker.  When word had been received of his discovery, Tom had been asked to join the man at a small village on one of the border colonies.  There he had met Adm. Nechayev.  She knew exactly who he was, even addressing him as Lieutenant Riker upon meeting.  Tom had been working for her ever since then.  She did not at the time reactivate his commission.  Instead she had placed him in one of her little pocket organizations that never reported to anyone.

            Since then he had been running more or less a listening post for her, as well as occasionally pretending to be Will to run some elaborate con where the clout of Captain William Riker would be useful.  Playing Will had been the only thing that had allowed him any way to keep track of what had happened.  The Admiral had neglected to fill in the life story of Will to an extent that he would not have been shocked at seeing Deanna here.  All he knew was that Will Riker had been promoted to Captain and commanded the _Titan._  Apparently that was all he needed to know.  Which led him back to where he was.  This mission had been classified so tightly that need to know did not even apply.  Both Jellico and Nechayev had briefed him on keeping this to himself.  

            Another thing that they had neglected to tell him was whom they were sending to retrieve him.  Since they had not been very forthcoming with information, Tom honestly did not know were Deanna was until he woke up in sickbay.  He had not expected to see her, or to find that she and Will had married.  He should have expected it really.  This brought him back full circle, keeping secrets.  Deanna was the only person in the universe that he found he had trouble lying to.  He could even lie to his doppelganger, although when he did felt like he was trying to lie to himself.

            Tom had a theory as to why they had sent the _Titan_, hiding in plain sight.  If he was on this ship, and this ship alone, he could hide.  As far as the computers still knew, unless a combadge had been programmed to register him as Tom, even a detailed scan would only reveal Will Riker.  He could even roam the halls here and the crew would think that he was the Captain.  He worried though that being here would place Deanna in danger again because of him.  All he needed to do was last until the got to DS9.  Once there he would meet with Commander Vaughn and finally be able to spill all the information that he had.  He would then be given a safe haven, as far away from Cardassian space as he could manage.  He thought about one option that had been given him, to reaccept his commission.  Nechayev had offered it to him just after reporting his findings, with a bump to full commander, provided he could re-certify his bridge officer test.  Again it was the idea of hiding in plain sight.  He would be productive, a moving target, and as well protected as he could be.  The idea would not have appealed to him as little as five years ago.  He always felt as if he were living in the shadow of someone else.  Now he had several years of experience where people did not compare him to Will Riker, Captain of the _Titan, _or Will Riker, Commander, First Officer of the _Enterprise._  The idea of returning to active duty appealed to him now._  Even if it is without Deanna.  I can't blame her for moving on.  Now she even has a little one of her own.  I really am happy for her; I just wish it were me.  I think I can manage now that I know that she is ok.  I hope though that I can get to know that little girl.  I think I would like to know what might have been before I move on the rest of the way._  With the thought he realized he had made his decision.

            "Computer, relay a message to Starfleet Command."

            "State authorization."

            _I should have known they would lock out access to subspace.  I am not crew, and I am a Maquis repatriate.  I was hoping not to have to use my clearances yet.  "Authorization T. Riker gamma 18."_

            "Civilian specialist Thomas Riker recognized.  Authorization confirmed."

            "Message is to Admiral Alynna Nechayev, Starfleet Command Earth.  Message as follows: Admiral, I have considered your offer.  I hear by accept reinstatement of my commission, effective immediately."  He took a deep breath and continued, "End message.  Send immediately, priority three.  Deliver as soon as received."

            "Message will be received in twenty minutes.  Do you request to be notified if a reply is received?"

            "Yes."  Tom only hoped he did not regret what he had just done.       


	6. Bread course

Chapter 6: Salad Course

Two days.  It was not a lot of time as far as Deanna Troi was concerned.  Under normal circumstances it would have been impossible to learn a person's motivations and motives in that span of time.  But that is just what she had managed to do.  She and Will had agreed try Tina's suggestion of letting Julie and Tom get to know each other.  Somewhere in the back of Deanna's mind she was relieved at the choice.  He deserved the chance.  He had done the right thing when he had taken Will's place and saved Will's career, even ensuring that Chancellor Gowron wasn't assassinated in the process.  His willingness to sacrifice his own freedom, and possibly his life to do the right thing, had been rewarded by everyone looking the other way when he had escaped.  She did not regret the decision to better get to know the new Tom Riker at any point during the two-day trip to DS9.

In the intervening years he had been one of those Robin Hood characters, aiding the oppressed by liberating what the fortunate did not have necessity for.  Deanna had to give him moral credit for the way things had been conducted in his cell.  She learned that they rarely ever took more than they actually needed, and never took what could not be lost without hardship from others if they could help it.  During the war he had been one of the Maquis that had come to the aid of the Federation, gathering intelligence and siphoning out all that he could manage.  During that time he had alluded to a couple of missions that she felt she would have felt proud of him for, if he had actually could have told her about them.  After the war had ended he found himself as one of Admiral Nechayev's pet spies.  While Deanna could not entirely agree with this idea, she actually understood his motives.  His resemblance to Will, including genetics, would have made him invaluable to the Admiral, and having been in her share of battles she had gained a more pragmatic view about intelligence operatives.

All in all Tom had become almost as altruistic as Will, albeit in a more vigilante way.  Deanna found herself warming to the man in much the same way that she and Will had been for a very long time, minus the sexual tension.  She still amazed at the relief she felt at not been sexually attracted to Tom.  Tom on the other hand was still warring over old feelings.  Overtly he was hiding the conflict well.

Even Will was handling the situation better than she had hoped.  While she doubted that the two of them would ever be friends, she was now certain that they could maintain a professional relationship, without trying to kill each other.  This had been an unexpected boon for her.  After the first afternoon together she had been able to actually relax because she knew that they would not have the pissing contest that she had feared they would.  

Once she was sure of the new Tom Riker, she had even been honest enough to tell him that the reason that she had involved both Tina and Will was because both of them were telepathic.  The pang of regret that passed through Tom when the full realization that Will and Julie not only could sense each other, they could have full telepathic communication nearly knocked Deanna over.  When Tom realized that he was emoting so strongly, he managed to block it from his conscious mind.  They explained that the only reason that Will had such a strong ability with Julie was the virus that he contracted.  Having been left trying to figure out how to deal with the new gift, he finally decided to live with the ability.  Tom still felt as if he had been cheated, but in the typical Riker fashion he managed to continue stoically.  Before leaving that first night he cornered Deanna and honestly told her the trepidation that he felt and that he just would need time to learn he really could manage to just be her friend, if she would allow it.  Deanna had reluctantly agreed to see what happened after this mission.

Julie, for her part, took everything with the wonderment of a child.  The first day she asked Tom so many questions, Deanna swore that Tom would throw up his hands in disgust.   Instead all she sensed in him was the same frustration that any adult had with a child.  Listening to them banter had given the other three ample opportunity to sift through Tom's public mind.  It was not something that Deanna liked to do.  If nothing else it would have been considered rude.  But given the lack of time she decided that expediency outweighed decorum.  She had however made a point of making sure Tina and Will, especially Will, did not probe too deep.  After all, he had been working as Starfleet intelligence for the last few years.  One thing that Deanna did not expect was the ease with which Will could read Tom.  Between the three of them, with a few insights from Julie had given them, she had what she would have called an accurate profile of Tomas Riker in less than a day.

There were several pieces of intelligence information gathered that day as well.  Most of it entailed the true state of the Cardassian Empire.  While the core systems had been steadily recovering, the outer systems were in a sorrier state than the Federation colonies in the DMZ had ever been.    For this information alone Deanna had been grateful to get Tom back into Federation hands, these people actually needed help.  He also had told them that after he had signed on with the Admiral he had managed to procure more medical supplies and even a few technicians and one or two doctors.  Deanna found herself able to feel a certain amount of pride towards the man. 

On the second day Will and Deanna had allowed Tom to take Julie to the holodeck without a chaperone.  They spent almost three hours together and never once did Julie feel the need to call her parents.  When the returned to the apartment Julie was very happy and Tom looked and felt as worn out as Will usually did when he would spend time on the holodeck with Julie himself.  Deanna allowed herself a small giggle.

_Now all we have to do is crack a computer database, get the information and the away team out and get back home, in one piece. _ She watched her daughter leave Tom's side and climb into her father's lap, telling him avidly about what she had done.  The quiet confidence that exuded from her husband's psyche gave her a boost._  We can manage that without even breaking a sweat._  She turned her attention to Julie who was telling her father about the hose she had been riding in the mountains of Alaska.     


	7. Salad

Chapter 7: Bread Course

            "How did they manage that?"  Adm. Alynna Nechayev had witnessed many strange and sometimes boneheaded things in her career, but this had to be near the top of the list.  How could the Cardassians be so stupid?  It was bad enough that they seemed bent on trying to invent a super soldier, but even they should have had enough brains to figure out that one just should not mess with any of the technology associated with Genesis, no matter what.  That stupidity alone was bad enough, now she was hearing that they had added a viral component.  This had to be the height of lunacy, at least in her opinion.  "I am not even going to ask if you have any idea about who the informant was?"

            "Actually sir, I might have a good idea."

            "Care to enlighten me Commander?"

            "Tom fidgeted in his chair.  "During my last foray to the colony I was almost caught by a group of guards.  I over heard them while they were looking for me.  During their exchange, Captain Riker's name was used instead of mine."  After the last two days Tom hoped that this would not end up being detrimental to the Captain.  "I also heard a place mentioned, but it is not one I was familiar with until yesterday, Dentarus."  He paused for a moment before gathering his thoughts for the next sentence.  "From what I learned with the Riker's over the last two days is that during a mission to Dentarus, Will Riker was exposed to some form of a virus.  This virus left him a telepath.  I still do not know what they have to do with each other, but I know they do."

            _Damn.  I knew that incident would bite Will in the ass.  _"I am aware of most of what happened on that planet.  You are correct in assuming that the two are connected.  I know how they are.  For right now though, it is not something that you need to worry about.  You are dismissed for now."

            "Yes, Sir."

            After she was sure the Commander was gone did something that she hated to do.  She ordered an aide to have Captain Riker brought in for questioning.  She had worked with the man several times, and during the height of the Genesis crisis to boot.  She knew him to be an exemplary officer.  But he had been compromised, and now it was her job to see that the damage control was done, even though it had taken over six years to find out exactly how he had been compromised.

            "With all due respect Admiral, what the hell are you talking about?  This is insane."  Captain Riker was pacing around the desk area of the admiral's temporary offices on DS9.  "That was quite a while ago.  I don't know how he got the information out of there before he was subdued.  I must remind you that I was rather incapacitated at the time, and relieved of command."  He ranted a little more.  "I did not even know the outcome of things until almost two weeks later, and by then we had established orbit around Betazed.  I have no knowledge of what happened during my interrogation, nor do I know how he would have smuggled out anything.  From what I understand I had only been captive for a few hours, no more that twelve before they were securing the facility."

            "The reason that you are in here Captain is not because you had been captured, it because I am aware of just how much you know about Genesis.  What we are dealing with is actually stolen research from that damnable project.  I want to know if you can tell me why he would want to disseminate that information, and how he got it out."

            "Admiral, I have told you already, I don't have any information to give you.  I haven't got a clue as to what he took from my mind.  Commanders Troi and LeBeau would have more information.  Actually Troi would be the better bet, she had command at the time."

            "Is there anyone else who might know anything?  The official logs have been rather vague."

            "What about the _Enterprise's_ logs, she was there too."

            "Same thing.  For some reason both Captain chose to edit their logs to the barest of facts."

            "If that is the case sir, I am at a loss.  I know that I am of no help here."

            "I was afraid of that.  I am very sorry Will.  But I am going to have to keep you in custody until I can get enough facts to ensure that if any of this came from you that it was gotten while you were under the influence of a psychotic virus that changed your neural pathways.  After I am certain that this was beyond your capacity to control and I know just what was gotten I might be able to release you, but not until then.  Depending on what we learn, I may not even be able to return you to command."

            "Before you do that, I have a request."

            "After all that we have been through, you have earned it.  As long as it is not letting you go, you can have it."

            "There are two people that might actually know how Taldoran got the information out.  Contact them.  I would suggest that you contact Taldoran, but the last that I heard he was in prison on Darona, with a psionic inhibitor stuck in his brain.  I doubt he would cooperate anyway."

            "Who are the two people?"

            "The first is the Counselor on the _Enterprise_, Lt. Comdr. Alana Buckley.  She is the one who actually took him down, and she was in telepathic link with the person who would most likely have any information that you need."

            "And who is that person?"

            "Ambassador Troi."

            "You are telling me your mother-in-law, is involved in this too?"  She watched Will nod his head.  "I knew that she was on board during the mission, her rescue is what started it, but I did now know in what capacity she had been used, that was also missing from the official logs."

            "Commander Troi is a much more tactful writer than I am sir.  She is very concise and brief in her command logs.  As for Captain Picard, he is simply a well seasoned Captain, he knows when to spout prose and when to just put in the numbers."

            "Let me guess, they both figured that you probably have had one too many run-ins with Jellico and decided to team up to cut you a break."

            "Either that or they did to want to deal with him either."

            "I'll pretend I didn't hear that Will.  Why don't you tell me all that you know about the incident?  It might save me some digging.  If it is good enough it just might save your hide."

            "Well most of what I know came from Lwaxana Troi after the fact.  Deanna and I haven't even discussed it much.  Anyway, during my recovery, Lwaxana and I spent a LOT of time together.  Near the end of my the rapy with her she told me how they distracted Taldoran long enough to let Buckley take the shot.  What happened was an away team, consisting of Counselor Buckley, Captain Picard, and Mrs. Troi kept him distracted long enough for a full security detail to get there.  Mrs. Troi and Taldoran got into a telepathic battle of wills.  He was so preoccupied, that he didn't even see the counselor aim."

            "Why wasn't that in the logs?"

            "My guess is that everyone thought that it was better to leave it out, including the woman that was in charge of the operation."

            "I see.  Well, I think I can understand why it wasn't there.  My opinion is that you still have heavily edited the account.  However, I will make you a deal.  I am going to give you back your ship."

            "I sense a but…"          

            "The but, as you so put it, is that you are going to do me two favors.  The first is that you are going to talk to you mother-in-law and wife.  Find out everything that you can that they chose not to file and report to me when you can.  And by can I mean within twenty-four hours.  The second is that you are going to handle this situation for me.  I am posting Commander Riker to the _Titan_.  His assignment is at your and your senior staff's discretion.  Then you are going to that colony and get that research.  When you return I will handle the information, and how we are going to approach the Cardassians with this.  When you have been released from here, if you wish to reassign Mr. Riker to another vessel you can.  Understood?"

            "Yes, Sir."  Will demurred.  He had gotten to where he could tolerate the man, but he still didn't like the idea that Tom would be part of his crew.  He would follow the orders, if for nothing else to clear his name.  He had to prove that if it really was him that leaked the information, then it was done while under the influence of mind altering drugs.  Right now, until he proved otherwise, he was thought guilty of leaking classified information.  The Admiral was cutting him a break that she did not have to.  "I will have LeBeau on it as soon as I return.  I will contact the Ambassador as soon as I talk to Commander Troi."

            "Good.  Now you may return to your ship."


	8. Soup

Chapter 8; Soup

            "It's not as if we didn't expect this _Imzadi_."  Deanna smiled sympathetically at her husband.  "I think we know now why Q said that Tom was the key but not the most important character.  Having him here is not as scary a proposition as it once was and we can handle social situations now, but I do not know how he will handle the reality of being active duty on your ship, and that we are both his superior officers.  We don't know how long we are going to have to keep him so we deal with it.  Now I am glad we took Tina up on that suggestion.  I don't know how long we would have been able to keep him and Julie apart from each other."

            "Speaking of my favorite Cajun, where did she assign him?"

            "Here is where things begin to get interesting.  Unless he tries to request a transfer, like he did right before he joined the Maquis, he is a very good bridge officer.  Currently Tina has put him as senior conn officer and bumped Quenten Marks over to Sciences with Karen Heath."  There was a slightly impish smirk that reminded Will of his first officer dancing under sparkling eyes.  "I think that she feels that familiarity breeds contempt, for all of us."

            Will chuckled inwardly at the jibe.  Generally he was the one to offer levity into a situation, this time he found it turned around.  Quenten and Karen had been openly dating for about four or five months now, how long they had played at avoiding the situation before Will did not know, but right now the were in the honeymoon phase and spending that much time together coupled with the two having to deal with one another being in the same command chain would either cement them as a couple or end the relationship.  He did notice that the two of them had been much happier lately and he hoped that Tina was playing another of her hunches when she had done this.  As for the last bit about all of them, he could only sigh.  Again it was most likely Tina hedging a hunch, which usually proved to be only too accurate when it came to getting into trouble.  He had been about to place the call to mother Troi when another chronic pain in the butt showed up on his couch.

            "Captain Riker," Q began without preamble, "I take it you have not had a good day?"

            "No I haven't Q.  So let me guess, considering the way this day has gone, you have decided that it is time to gloat and tell me that I am taking too long to figure this out."

            "Not exactly, although you are right.  You should have figured this all out by now, and be on your way.  No the reason that I am here is that I was curious to know how you are handling the new crew assignment?"

            "Just fine Q.  There are few people that are as qualified to fly the _Titan_ as Tom."  The statement was nowhere near a lie.  Truth be told, aside from himself, there were only two people on this ship currently that he felt as confident of their piloting skills.  One was Quenten and the other was Tom.

            "And the Counselor?"

            "I actually find it an interesting change Q.  Rather pleasant.  Now would you please tell me why you are in our quarters without a invitation or allow us to finish our business and get dinner?"

            "I just want to tell you that you have merely begun.  Watch carefully.  Your big chance to get a jump on the puzzle is about to happen."  With a smug look Q vanished.

            "I hate it when he does that."

            "Let me see if I get this straight," Nechayev continued, "Lwaxana Troi impersonates the First Officer of the _Enterprise.  _Captain Picard, "Comdr." Troi, and Commander Buckley beamed into Risand Taldoran's lair.  A firefight erupted when the security detail showed up.  During the exchange Picard was mentally assaulted.  Troi then proceeds to lock horns mentally with the guy.  The Counselor took him out when he wasn't looking.  But during the whole thing no one ever learned that he had any Genesis research.  Or that he even had any outside communication before he was captured."

            "That's correct."

            "If Picard fell to his assault, how did Ambassador Troi avoid it, as well as the Counselor?"

            "Buckley was never in a rapport with Taldoran, only Mrs. Troi.  And as for my mother-in-law, she is a very formidable woman.  One of the tricks that she learned during the liberation of her homeworld during the war was how to project emotions.  With that she learned that if a person is aware that what they are seeing and feeling is just a telepathic projection, they can control their reactions.  Most anyone with a strong will can do it, but it works much better if the person being attacked is also telepathic."

            "So the gist of this story is that there is no one that has any idea how an ex-Tal Shiar mad scientist managed to get highly classified information from there into the hands of the Cardassians?"

            "Unfortunately it would seem that way sir."

            "I have to admit, when you gave me your full written report earlier, I can completely see why both Acting Captain Troi and Captain Picard left out a lot of the details.  Picard may not be under Jellico's command directly, but you are.  He is a very hard man to deal with.  Even I have found myself stepping in on behalf of one of his captain's when the person did not feel they were being treated fairly.  This log would have had you in his office for a very long time."

            "Don't I know it."  Will muttered. 

            She simply looked at him for the remark.  "Since we haven't learned anything from this venue, you are now on to step two.  You are heading straight for that colony.  I will tell you this much, you will be within sensor range of the DMZ but you will be in secured Cardassian space.  Commander Riker will fill you in on the details.  Your orders are to secure as much of their data as possible and see just how much of Genesis is imbedded in their systems and research.  You are also to locate the person or persons involved with getting that information into the hands of the Cardassians, and bring them down if possible."  She frowned, offering a personally felt exasperation.  "I just hope this is finally the end of it Will."

            "So do I sir, so do I."

            Early the next morning, after having been underway for several hours Riker had ordered a staff meeting to bring everyone up to speed.  He had elected to wait this long to give everyone a chance to read up on Genesis.  Alyssa, Deanna, and he had been on the front line of battling the thing, Deanna even logging time in the Brahms suit during an actual wave.  All of the senior staff, except for Ben Varga and Tom had been involved directly with parts of the crisis.  Unfortunately only the former _Enterprise_ crew had learned the full scope of the crisis, as well as reading ALL of the classified reports that were shot out at them.  The others needed the time to wrap their minds around the problem at hand.  Between he and Deanna alone they had seen first hand all the devastation that was possible.  Now he was heading into something related to it, without any backup.

            "Ok people, let's get started shall we.  By now you have all read up on the Genesis incident.  This was something that we had thought had finally been put back into the bottle, and contained.  However we have learned that the research is still out there and being used.  Our mission is to return to the colony that the initial information came from, gain access to the database retrieve it and then get out of there.  We think that we know where they got their information, but we do not know who the broker was that actually gave them the research from the original informant."

            "Who was the original?"  Shanar nursed a cup of coffee as he spoke.  He had just rotated back to alpha shift after his rotation as night watch, and it always took him a few days to readjust.

            "Risand Taldoran."

            "But that was over six years ago.  Why did it take so long for us to learn about it?"    

            "Commander," Will gestured to Tom to answer the question.  It was not something that Will felt comfortable with, for over twenty years now he had managed to avoid dealing with his doppelganger.  Now it had come back to haunt him.  A lot of things had been doing that on this mission.  The upside of the whole mess was that he had spent the last three days learning who his twin had become.  While he had come to the conclusion that they could never be close friends he discovered he could in fact work with him and maintain a casual friendship.

            Tom nodded in acknowledgement.  He noted the uneasy looks that the other officers had given him since he came in the room.  They had been briefed about his situation Tom had been certain that they would find him to be a freak and stare at him.  While he had noticed the covert looks from them, he did not find himself as ostracized as he thought he would be.  "From what I have learned, my guess would be the isolation involved.  As far as I could ascertain, the few of us that went out there have been the only Federation citizens that have sent foot there in a very long time.  And I am fairly positive that I am the only one with any Starfleet connections that has been there.  What they have been doing is taking parts from what I now know are most of the recombination sequences of Genesis and combining them with a retrovirus.  This is supposed to be specific only to Cardassian DNA.  The theory is that it is supposed to trigger things like more muscle mass, denser bone structure and so forth.

            "You said, 'now I know it was Genesis'.  Why weren't you aware of what it was?"  The remark came from Heath.  She hadn't even been in the Fleet at that point and she knew most of the background of the crisis.  She had even been on several of the missions that had included resurveying planets in the Genesis wake.  As a matter of fact it was working with Starfleet during that period that led her to seeking becoming a Civilian Mission specialist in the first place.  It was an unexpected plus.  If it hadn't been for the devastation of that invention, she would not have ended up on the _Titan_, or in the Fleet.

            "I wasn't even working for Admiral Nechayev at the time.  Truthfully I never even knew that the original Maquis amnesty had been declared.  The Admiral tends to keep things to herself when she wants to; she led me to believe that I was stuck there for the most part.  Anyway, to make a long story short, we spent almost six months on the colony.  I didn't know exactly what the Cardassians were doing until a week before I left.  We had a computer expert with us on the last trip.  He managed to crack into their database, which we had managed to gain access to.  After that I did not have a chance to report what we had learned.  We did not even get a chance to safely hide the data before some of the local military decided they wanted to question us.  During our flight is when I learned where the data came from."

            Will visibly blanched.  Cardassian questioning was not a good thing even under the best of circumstances.  He could well remember when he had been subjected to that lovely pastime.  He had been mistaken for Tom and wound up on Lazon II, under the Cardassians' tender care.  "Anything else we need to know?"

            Shanar spoke up.  "According to the data that the Commander has given me, we can expect the same amount of trouble as when we extracted him in the first place.  There are only a few ships that patrol that area, and rather infrequently at that.  The longer we are there, the more of a chance we have of finding that trouble.  Fortunately we have a fairly accurate timetable as for when the patrols are in the area.  One is due within two hours of our ETA, with a second coming about six hours after the first passes.  If we manage to avoid both of them, we have about a day after that before the third and final patrol for a week shows up.  I would suggest we wait it out, but since they know that someone was trying to steal the information, they would have more of a chance to increase security.  My recommendation is to send no more than four people, leave them with a subspace radio and wait for them to signal them.  As long as we are in the DMZ the local patrols might just go on without stopping for anything.  That is about all the safety that I can offer, for us and the team."

            "I take that recommendation.  I want you, LeBeau, Ogawa and Riker.  That's security, computers, medical, and local expert.  Be ready to leave as so as we get there."  Changing his focus over to Tom Will spoke again.  "What's our ETA Commander?"

            "Seventeen and a half hours."  Tom Riker responded.  While he still felt a little strange looking at himself across the table, he was beginning to fell like he really had become an individual person.  For almost twenty years he had struggled with his identity.  For him, this was the final hurdle.  While still not on the most congenial terms they were now having conversations of over an hour without having so much as a cross word, or vying for superiority in a situation.  Here he was in uniform again, and for the first time since his recovery from Nervala IV, he felt like he was a part of a team again.  It was a good feeling.

            What none of them noticed as the Captain drew the meeting to a close was a man standing in the corner wearing an enigmatic smile on his face.   


	9. Brazed Vegetables

Chapter 9; Brazed Vegetables

            "I'm glad that you warned me."  Alyssa Ogawa surveyed her surroundings.  While nowhere near as devastating as other planets she had seen after the Genesis Wave, the place was definitely worse than she had hoped.  The flora seemed only somewhat effected and there were few other creatures, none sentient and very few otherwise on the planet other than Cardassians.  Small food animals did inhabit the area to the west of here but at least there weren't any moss creatures trying to use the local inhabitants as food.  The natural surroundings were still twisted and she found it rather disconcerting.  Despite the damage to the ecosystem, the hardest thing for Alyssa to cope with had been the people.  Most of them were so mangled she could barely fathom how they were still alive.  The ones actually walking ranged from close to healthy looking to a couple that she saw that even had extra limbs jutting out from odd angle on their body.  Of the ones that were disfigured she took notice of one man barely in his twenties if she were to judge that even had a third leg placed at an obscene angle from between the healthy two.

            No one seemed to notice the officers as they walked through the street.  This was another thing that Tom had warned her about.  Most of the people her remained nearly catatonic.  About the only time that they could be aroused was when they were offered food, and then they only cared about the food.  Even though they were non-coherent the away team had still elected to disguise themselves.  The only ones that would likely notice them were the guards, and as far as the guards were concerned, there was no way that they would not notice them, they knew every single subject here; but better to hedge the chance of being noticed at first glance.  The whole thing reminded her of being in a Borg cube.  This was rather creepy.  "Do you think that they even know that there is someone in front of them at all, or if they would understand us?"

            "I think that they do.  What they probably think though is that anyone that is healthy is part of they guard and should be avoided at any cost.  I think that they see us on a level as something just to not notice, in hope that it will go away.  What ever they were bombarded with not only left them mutated but they are now suffering from a plethora of illnesses and malnutrition.  Starvation kills more of them than the illnesses."

            "Do you have any idea when this grizzly experiment started?"

            "What we lifted suggests a little over nine months ago.  I showed up about six months ago.  The only things we have managed have been what would be called comfort medicine.  We've smuggled in food, clothes, and what medical help we could.  They weren't able to do much.  Several have died under our care."  Riker looked sick to himself.  Before this mission, he head never killed someone other than in combat.  Even the years he had spent with the Maquis had never placed him in a position to do what he found reprehensible, but in his opinion necessary under the circumstances.  Oh, prior to this place he had killed many times, but never in his life did he expect that he would perform a mercy killing.  Not just one, but several.

            His entire contact with the colony went through his mind.  His regular contact here had been one of the guards.  He was actually a very decent man.  Granted he had once been part of the Obsidian Order, but he had a kind heart and more scruples than that organization allowed.  He had stepped on one too many toes during his tenure.  In a fit of sadistic ire they assigned him to this colony, obstensively to keep an eye on the guards and research scientists.  He was never informed about what was going on here, but he knew that the victims needed help.  Tom's cell had been the ones to intercept the pleas for aid.

            Over the six months he smuggled in what he could.  On that fateful trip the unthinkable but expected happened.  Several women who had been subjected to the experiment had been pregnant, and Tom was there when most of them gave birth.  Of the fifteen that went into labor, eight of the children were stillborn.  His first euthanasia had been one of the mothers of those stillborns.  She had severely hemorrhaged during delivery.  She survived that only to have the internal injuries become septic.  She might have survived another day or two, but Tom made a decision.  He ensured that she would pass quietly in her sleep, via a hypospray.

            The children that did survive were harder, but even more necessary in Tom's opinion.  They were so grotesquely deformed that none of them would live more than a month.  It he had access to Starfleet medical facilities they might have been able to do something, emphasis on might.  He made sure that the mothers never knew what happened.  All they ever found out was that their child did not survive through the night.  Every one of the women would show a look of relief that at least made it possible for Tom to sleep at night.

            He was beginning to learn to live with it when he had been rescued.  Now that he knew what was going on here he realized that because of Genesis he had been in a battle, just not one where the enemy was known.  The Admiral, and the entire crew of the _Titan _had seen the war, where as he had only dealt with the aftermath.  He let out a low sigh, hoping that no one would notice him shake off the melancholy and addressed the team.  "My contact should be on his regular patrol.  If my time sense is right, we shouldn't have to wait long.  We have a standing agreement that he checks here for messages during his patrol every day.  I should talk to him alone at first.  Once I establish our identity and what we have come for I will introduce you.  Hopefully we will have access to the computers before night fall."  He did not elaborate.  If they didn't get the stuff tonight they would be stuck for about two days while the waited for the patrol cycle of both starships and foot to resync themselves so they could be at the beamout point.

            "From there this is my mission, got it?" She had worried that allowing Tom to be the lead would cause a problem.

            "Hey I'm just the tour guide."  Tom had an innocent look, which apparently unnerved the _Titan's _first officer.

            Tina had to stop herself from calling him either Captain or Will.  This was Tom and she was going to need time to realize that she was dealing with two people that sounded, acted, and looked nearly identical.  "I wish you had given us more data to go on though.  You said that it took your guy nearly four weeks to crack that thing.  And here I have just a few hours.  How do think that we could do it, having to start from scratch again?"

            "Rebs installed a password, that way I wouldn't have to try to remember the codes as well as everything else I had to get out.  He could only manage to get it to install to a very minor system, but it will get you by the toughest part of the security system."

            "What's the password?"  A pang of regret that was so overwhelming that it made Tina physically startle washed over her.  Tom had felt so strongly about a simple code word that he had managed to get past her shields, leaving her as overwhelmed as she knew Deanna must feel sometimes.  She heard him frame the word in his mind before he spoke.  For that instant she felt a large sense of sympathy for the man.  She heard the word frame in his mind before he spoke.

            _"Imzadi."_


	10. The Main Course part 1

Chapter 10; The Main Course

            Commander LeBeau hated to admit to anyone that she was a hacker.  She preferred to call herself a computer security expert.  Even though said skill had been what had given her the edge to get her current post, she still did to like to admit it to anybody.  Even Will did not use the term in front of her anymore, although he still reminded her that her enjoyment of going around the rules was why she was here at least once a week.  He had also told her that it was the same skill on the other extreme that truly gave him the desire to make her his Number One.  'I want someone that knows all the rules, how to uphold them, and how to break them.'  She pulled the quote from her memory.  'I want someone who knows how to use the front door in a situation, as well as someone who can sneak in a window.'  So here she sat with her head buried, almost literally in a Cardassian computer.  No, she would never admit to being a hacker.  Mostly because she did not want to admit even to herself just how much she loved to break all the rules that she had worked so hard to learn.

            The password that Tom had given her had worked.  It had only gotten them into a small maintenance system, but at least it had gotten her in.  Now all she had to do was figure out how to get to the rest of the systems.  Tom was right it would not take very long to get in, maybe a couple of days if she did not have any luck at first.  However they only had a couple of hours.  She kept her eyes on the terminal an risked asking a question that she was not quite sure that she wanted to here the answer to.  "How long have these systems been here anyway, and do you know where they came from?"

            The mole thought about it before he answered.  "If memory serves me, this base was set up a little over six of your Terran years ago.  These are the original computers that were installed then.  But I don't think this was a new system, I think they bought the thing from a trader or something.  As far as I know there hasn't been anyone to try to reprogram the thing the entire time."

            "Damn, I knew that that mission would keep haunting us."  Tina muttered as she tried to program one of the more lengthy decrytion programs that she knew.

            "What?" from Tom."

            She finished the sequence and knowing that it would take a few minutes to allow the worm to try to get through, she leaned against the side and looked at Tom.  "I know that we have talked about this over the last few days.  I want you to recall the last time that you saw the Captain and Counselor.  How clearly do you remember it?"

            "There is no way that I could ever forget that.  So many things hinged on those few weeks that I have most of it etched into my brain."  He stroked his chin in a gesture that was identical to Will when he was nervous or thinking hard.

            "Do you know that we have had to use parts of what Will and Deanna went through during that escapade to get through several missions?  It kept biting us in the butt."_  Besides, if it hadn't been for than enhanced bond that Mrs. Troi created, we would not have survived that other mission._  "We also told you about what happened to Will in the Dentarus system six years ago.  My comment was the thought that we will have to keep bringing that back to roost every time that we turn around.  But with the coincidence sitting here I think that I am going to need some data from the _Titan_ if we hope to get this done before being stuck here for a while.  I can hack through Cardassian stuff fairly easy.  But I think that the encryptions are actually Romulan, and I am going to need what I have on the _Titan._  But without a secure system it is too risky."

            "I have an idea that might help." The Cardassian that had been their guide quipped from the door that he and Shanar were posting themselves.  "If you sent the message on one of the older Order frequencies I doubt that anyone would pick it up before they received it.  The problem is that I don't think that the Federation monitors those frequencies, even our own government doesn't know which ones that we use."

            "I have an idea for that one."  Dr. Ogawa surprised everyone by speaking.  Since they had been in this room, she had been studying the information that she had gathered on her tricorder.  She now had enough data that the sooner she could send in a report the better.  She had concrete proof that the Captain could not have been responsible for the research that these people had obtained.  She still granted that he might have been the cause of them being able to tie it all together.  Will probably had more information on Genesis floating around in his head than over a hundred of the majority involved.  There had been very little of that crisis that he had not participated in, at the very least as an observer.  But it was her professional opinion that the Captain just did not have the background necessary for him to have kept the math involved in this in his head.  So the sooner she could help get this back the better.  "What if you sent a very quick burst on one of the emergency frequencies.  Just your ID code and the new frequency.  That would be enough to get through so that we could send them what we have, and not get caught in the process.  I have to get this back anyway.  It's not nearly everything but it is enough to prove that they were using Genesis technology, and get the Captain off the hook with the boss."  

            The First Office thought about the risks of breaking radio silence.  While she could do this on her own, she would need several days to do it.  There was also the information that Alyssa had given her.  If things managed to turn sour here, getting what little they could out now might just make the difference.  The words Access Denied flicked across the screen, in Cardassian of course.  They seemed to mock her.  Biting her lower lip in frustration and determination she made her decision, "Do it."

            "Commander, I've picked up something from the away team sir." Lt. Heath reported and returned to staring at the packet while waiting for a response.

            "What is it Lieutenant?"  Troi left the command chair to see what had the woman's undivided attention.

            "First we picked up a burst on the emergency frequency.  All that was on it was Commander LeBeau's ID code and a second frequency.  It was one that we usually don't monitor and I barely had a chance to change to the new code when the rest of it came in.  It's a complete report of what they have found so far, as well as a request for more information.  Comdr. LeBeau needs some of the decrytion codes that came from getting into the computers on Dentarus.  There is also a message for either you or the Captain.  Its text only, but it is not coded for being for eyes only."

            "Let me see it."  Deanna had expected the message to be from Tina.  Instead she was rather surprised to see that it was from Alyssa.  The brevity of the message was initially disconcerting until she had read the whole thing, which actually only took a few seconds. 'Captain is not responsible for the information that they have.  The information is too complete to be from him, he did not have access to all of what I have seen.'  Deanna straightened with a slight weight lifted from her shoulders.  "Captain Riker, report to the bridge."  He would be pleased at this news at least in part.  He was off the hook with Nechayev at least.  Hopefully when they got the rest of it they could be on their way.

            "The good news first."  He gazed at his wife who was currently looking as is she had seated herself in his chair just to tell him why she wanted him to physically come to the bridge.  He could tell that she had received something that had been a bit of good news, by the sparkle in her eyes.

            "Well the good news is that we now have the proof that we need to get you off the hook with Nechayev.  What I just read from Alyssa is that she has proof that you need.  I should know as soon as Karen finishes looking at it."  She looked up at the science officer.  "Talk to me Karen."

            "According to what she sent, I would have to agree.  I don't think that the Captain could have remembered anything like this, no offense."  Will simply smiled in acknowledgement.  "I'm not a medical doctor, just a rock hunter.  I can't make heads or tails out of some of these equations.  Unless you had spent several days at least trying to get these down I don't think you would have retained enough to go into your long-term memory.  Someone else had to have given them this, either that or someone smuggled it out during the crisis in the first place."

            "Either is possible and more likely than me seeing those equations and remembering them.  I was quite busy at the time.  Between running around and trying to keep everyone alive I only looked at the reports that I absolutely had to most of the time.  I know that I read a lot of stuff and I can't very easily recall it all.  I take it that not knowing exactly what I don't know is the bad news."

            "And that Tina needs some of the logs from Dentarus.  To boot, if Tom's reckoning is correct we only have about three hours until we get company."

            "Get those logs to the Commander and tell them they have two and a half hours and then they are on their own for a while."

            "Aye sir."

            "We're going to get company."  The Cardassian guard seemed rather concerned.

            "Gotcha.  Let me get this, I need ten seconds."  Her hunch had proven correct and as soon as she had the sequences that Ben and Geordi had used during the mop up of that episode the whole thing opened into her lap.  "That's it, lets move."

            "There is a small access door behind that wall.  We use it to bring in parts to fix the system.  It has a separate code than the rest of the room.  Go through there and you won't be noticed.  I will stall them until you get out.  They might just buy that I was doing some maintenance on the system."

            "Good luck, and thanks."  With a smile from each of the four Cardassians that sounded remarkably like senior staff from the _USS Titan, _they crawled out the back door.

            When they had reached a building several dozen meters away LeBeau stopped Tom.  "Mr. Riker, why am I having to crack this system.  Shouldn't your friend there have all the codes?"

            Tom looked at the Commander.  "Before he was assigned here he was part of the Obsidian Order.  Well, unfortunately for him, he had more scruples than he should have in that profession.  Instead of befalling an accident as in what usually happens in those situations, his superiors, in a pique of sadistic mercy, sent him here as a token operative.  He has less clearance than most of the guards.  Believe it or not, he really does not know how to deal with computers very well.  He just never needed it.  He is as much of a prisoner as the ones that were experimented on." 

            No one heard Alyssa mutter to herself, "Control group."

            Tina was sitting on the floor ten minutes later while they were waiting to make sure that the patrol had managed to leave the computer room.  The last check with the tricorders had seen that there were still four people in the room, and that was about five minutes ago.  "I think I have the rest of the code.  If this works I should only need about ten minutes to get the whole thing onto a couple of chips."

            "Let me see what you got."  Tom was not a patient person.  He had been trying not to pace too much.  He assumed that everyone was getting irritated at him for the habit but he had had this particular habit from the time that he was a child.  He felt a little relieved when Commander LeBeau had told him that they were used to it and that the only one that generally got on to Will about it was Deanna.  Everyone else just allowed him the habit, mostly in hopes that he would leave them to their habits when they annoyed him.  Tom had laughed at that and for the first time realized that he genuinely liked this woman.  While not like Deanna in many ways he found her to be a funny woman that he enjoyed spending time with, and to top it off he now knew that she was a top notch First Officer and that the crew truly respected her.  He unfortunately did not get a chance to look at what she had found before weapons fire interrupted the exchange.  "Well so much for the quiet little break.  I think we should assume that this means that the story Lentak told them did not hold up for too long.  We are going to have uninvited guests in a minute.  We might just blend in with the locals but I don't think the guards would buy four healthy people walking around together."

            "Phasers out people, lets be ready.  Set for heavy stun, lets not kill them if we don't have to."  LeBeau was well aware that Tom was talking about separating the team to try to get away from the guards.  She did not think that it was such a good idea, especially when they did not have communications between them and they were relying on prearranged beam out coordinates to get home.  No they would stick together unless they did not have a choice.  "Guard the door.  Alyssa stay in the middle.  Shanar when we leave you take the point.  I want Tom in the rear."  She looked at the man, staring him down, "I just hope you are as good of a shot as the Captain."  She returned to face the rest of them.  "We give it five minutes if there is no more shooting.  If there is we have a man to rescue."  Shots again were heard, making any decision making moot.  "Let's move people."  By the time they returned to the control room there was still a firefight going on.  Apparently the guide was rather adept at staying alive during a shooting match.  Tina had only been expecting no more than the three guards that they knew about.  She had to stop herself from the gasp she felt rising in her throat.  She saw the man as he gave an excellent account of himself.  If she counted right the current odds were one against twelve.  They all took aim carefully as the knew that the only chance to do this with little effort was to take out as many as they could in the first volley, when they had surprise on their side.

_            Daddy!_  Julie woke mentally screaming.  

            _Pumpkin?!_  Will was out of his bed so fast he nearly forgot to put his pants on before heading to his daughters room.

            "What's wrong sweetie?"  He sat on the edge of her bed and gathered her into his arms, holding her while she tried to calm herself down.

            "Tina and Tom are in trouble, and I think we are too."  She was nearly screaming and she shook harder as she said the words.  

            "Ssshh.  Calm down Little One."  He deliberately used Deanna's name for her.  Often when Julie was upset using that name caused her to calm down faster.  Will didn't mind knowing his name for her didn't work like that he was just glad that, like her mother, he could get her to focus through the usage of words.  "Tell Daddy what's wrong.  Why do you thing that we are all in trouble?"  He hoped that it would be a normal nightmare brought on by anxiety, but knowing her and her mother he doubted that it would be a simple case of childhood jitters.

            "I'm not sure," she sniffed.  "All I remember is knowing that something very bad was happening to Tom and Tina.  And that it made things really bad for the ship, and you more than anyone else."

            "Let's call your Mom.  I'll bet she will know if anything has happened in the last little bit.  And if it hasn't at least you know."  He scooped the little girl in his arms and headed for his room to check in on the bridge.

            "Will, it is quarter to four in the morning.  Is something wrong?"  Deanna's voice held the normal command tone that she used while on the bridge.

            "Jules had a nightmare.  She thinks that something happened to the away team."

            "Nothing that I am aware of.  There is nothing on sensors at the moment that we did not expect to see, and we haven't heard from them since the last transmission.  We are tracking the one incoming that we were expecting on patrol and I have ordered us to retreat toward the DMZ until they pass.  Other than that it is normal Gamma shift."

            "Thanks, I think that is what we needed to hear.  Riker out."  Privately, he added to Deanna as he returned the kid to her room._  Keep a weather eye out.  With everything that this kid has done so far, I wouldn't be surprised if she did pick up on something.  Every time you have done something like this and I didn't pay attention I have had to eat my words of you just having a dream._  Then to his daughter he spoke, "Ok squirt, you think you can head back to dreamland now?"

            "Tuck me in, and a night night song?"

            It was a rare thing for Julie to show her still very childlike side.  Normally one would swear the girl was twice her age.  Will however never allowed himself to forget that he was the father of a five year old.  "Of course, isn't that more important than anything else in the world.  That's what Daddy's are for."

            Fifteen minutes later the girl was relaxed enough to feign sleep.  Will knew that she was pretending so he would go back to bed himself.  _So much like her mother._  He did not get past the kitchen without noticing a figure on his couch.  "Now what Q?"

            "I just wanted to check on how your were fairing.  Had any insights?"

            "A few.  Now let me guess, what you have been waiting for is about to happen?"

            "Very good.  I see you have been paying attention.  You realize that you are about to make decisions that will either save or destroy you and even if you survive it will change the course of your life as well as your daughters."

            "That's nice to know, care to enlighten me?"

            "What, now you want the answers when you are so close to the end of the puzzle?"

            "Actually I just wanted to give you the opportunity to spout off.  Otherwise I am going to take a shower and get a cup of coffee.  So either impart your oh so lovely wisdom or get the hell out of my home."  Will did know one thing, after this he was going to arrange for the whole ship to have shore leave, mostly because he needed it.

            "Just make the shower a short one."  With that typically cryptic remark Q left.

            "I have a bad feeling about this."


	11. The Main Course part 2

Chapter 11; the main course, part 2

            "I have a bad feeling about this."  LeBeau muttered as they drug the last of the fallen guards into a storage shed, locking them in for good measure.

            "We're in trouble."  Shanar echoed he statement as he and the others returned to what they had been doing before the little excursion.  He had been harboring a little worry of his own but when LeBeau used her trouble phrase he really had o choice but to admit that they were not in good shape.  No that phrase was a sure sign that they were in deep _hasperat._  

            "Any clue why?"  Tom did not even think to question their assessment of the situation.  When any two officers said they were in trouble Tom knew to trust the sentiment.

            "Nothing concrete, Tom.  But this was too easy, don't you agree?  I have fought my share of these characters in my time and never have I come out of three to one odds with not even a broken nail.  They even only stunned our guard, that's just not the norm for these clowns.  Let me crack this thing the rest of the way and let's go home, before we get in real trouble.  I just hope they get here before it happens."

            "Captain Riker, report to the bridge."  Deanna was calm, even given the fact that her ship was under a very thorough scrutiny.  In the last ten minutes they had found they found they had more company than they needed at the moment.  They were now tracking three incoming, and instead of patrol configuration, they were on an intercept course.  That was enough to set her on edge but they hadn't heard from the team yet either.  She actually hadn't expected to but it would have eased her mind to hear any news.  "Status."

            "We are still tracking the three incoming, Commander.  No word on the away team yet. ETA on the incoming, seven minutes."

            Stepping onto the bridge Will went straight to his chair.  He knew that they were getting ready to have trouble, even without asking.  "You are relieved Commander."

            With a very professional nod Deanna took her normal post.  "Currently, we are tracking three _Galor _class ships on intercept, ETA less than seven minutes."

            "You think this is what Q was expecting?"

            "Probably.  We know that they are using banned technology.  Even the Romulans have left this stuff alone.  We don't have any real treaties with them other than the DMZ and the aid agreements from the war.  They are not a member world.  If they were there would not be a need for what we are doing.  Handle this wrong and it could even escalate into a war.  At the very least if we don't manage very well it will be very hard on the Federation."

            "Let's find out what they want.  Hail them."  Will knew that he was going to have to talk his was through this one.  

            "They are responding, Gul Enarlk."

            "On screen."  He straightened.  "This is Captain William Riker of the _USS Titan_.  How may we help you?"

            "You are in Cardassian space.  You will withdraw now."

            As opposed to motioning to cut the audio he thought at Deanna.  _How deep are we in his territory?_

            _From here, less than a million kilometers.   I picked this spot to wait because we are still with sensor range, but close enough to neutral ground that we can feign innocent if we are caught._

            He went back to the Gul.  "I am sorry about that.  We are training crew, you know how that goes, I will make sure that it doesn't happen again.  We will cross back to the DMZ."

            "You will head to Federation space, not just the DMZ.  You are not welcome here."

            _Time to play poker.  I have to bluff this one to give time to get Tina and the others back._  "We don't want to risk an incident, we will withdraw.  Riker out."

            You are thinking of leaving here are you?"  Thompson blurted before realizing that she had.

            "Actually Katie I am going to do exactly what he wants."  She looked stricken.  "Lesman, how long can we hold warp 9 away from here and still double back to reach the team at the window for beam out?"

            "You're going to bluff them into thinking that we are too chicken to do anything."  Deanna pegged her husband.

            "Exactly.  Carlotta, warp 9 please.  Engage."

            "Aye sir, one big circle coming up.  Any sights you want me to pass while on the family outing?"

            "A simple aye sir would suffice."  The devilish grin that showed Will was teasing surfaced.  "But if you find a pretty nebula, be sure to point it out."  The Lieutenant had signed on just before Julie was born.  Will had been a little reticent to take her based on her checkered past.  It was one of the few times he had been wrong.  Not only was she a capable officer, she had a slight bit of telepathy and empathy herself.  The fleet had reminded him several times that he had more than his share of officers with high psi ratings and there were rumors of being called the mind reading act of the fleet, but Will didn't care.  His was not the strangest crew in the fleet, Shelby and Calhoun beat him hands down.  He put up with the remarks because he had come to truly value the gifts that his officers had.  Truth be told he was one of the few humans that took all of this completely in stride and embraced what many still saw as an invasion of privacy.  Thus Carlotta Lessman found a home here she might not have anywhere else.  She had a very sunny disposition and her quick wit brought a nice atmosphere to the bridge.

            "Sir, I have plotted a course that will take us out for an hour and ten minutes.  Returning on another trajectory we can be back to the planet with a ten minute window.  Oh, I couldn't find a nebula but I did find a system with a binary star and two gas giants that seem very pretty to look at, shall I make the adjustment to make sure we get the best view possible?"

            With a smile Will gave the order.  "Make it so."

            "That's it, we're in.  All I need to do is download it all and we can hightail it to the rendezvous point.  She looked at some of the information.  "Alyssa, look at this.  What do you make of it, and is it as bad as it seems?"

            The Doctor looked over her shoulder.  What she saw was appalling.  From the research that she had seen they were dealing with the aftermath of the Genesis material they were using.  This she had expected.  What was troubling her now was that they mutations hadn't stabilized and the whole ecosystem was still changing.  The mutations were still occurring at what she figures was ten times the rate they should have for this point after detonation.  Even the retrovirus that was supposed to go inert after the test had mutated.  If she had to make an expert opinion on its status at the moment she would have to say that the virus was most likely capable of infecting humans at this point, although what it would cause, she had no idea.  Or how long until onset.  "It's that bad.  We might even have the virus that started this, I am going to have to check.  This data says that it has mutated.  It was supposed to be Cardassian specific, but I doubt that it is now."  She had started to scan them when she felt the familiar sensation of a transporter beam.

            It was hot and dark.  Every member of the away team knew where they were, without having to be told, a Cardassian brig.  Tom knew because of his time at Lazon II.  Justina had the pleasure of spending time in one of these facilities during the war, and Shanar had spent time on Terok Nor while the Cardassians still held her.  Of all of them only Alyssa had not been in the company of Cardassian jailers before.  But she was very familiar with the aftermath.   Fortunately at the moment they were the only ones in the room.  A forcefield kept them in, it's quiet hum the only reminder of its presence.  "It could be worse," Tina broke the silence, "at least we are together."  Tom Riker could barely be seen glowering at the Commander's remark.  She did not mention that they might have also run a DNA scan on them.

            "We have a problem sir." Heath reported from her station.  She was still a little bleary eyed from being called in from being off duty.  The sensor readings though were doing wonders for waking her.

            "Talk to me Karen."  Will turned to face the woman.

            "Two of those ships are still following us.  Actually they are gaining.  I'm clocking them doing warp 9.4.  At that pace they will catch us in about ten minutes."  She glanced at the reading again.  "And they are hailing us."

            "On screen."

            "Thieves.  We demand what you stole from our colony.  You have one minute to comply or we will consider this an act of war and act accordingly."  The screen went blank.

            "He's bluffing."  Both Deanna and Carlotta said at the same time.

            Yet again, Will found him self glad that he put up with the snide remarks.  Having multiple empaths was something Will took merciless advantage of.  Deanna was one of the best at reading people that he had ever worked with, but once in a while she could be fooled.  Having Carlotta sitting at the helm, looking like she was just the pilot gave him plenty of advantage.  When the two of them agreed on something, it was nearly 100% a certainty that something was accurate.  "Well, you two called it.  What should the next move be?  Do we fake not knowing, or do we call him?  Or should we try to run back to our territory?"

            "I say call it.  But," Deanna frowned, "there is something he has up his sleeve.  He has an ace in the hole and he is waiting to play it.  But I doubt he knows that we know."  
            It clicked.  "The away team.  Julie's nightmare.  I bet he has them.  His bluff was too direct.  He has to know that we don't have any significant information here and that we were waiting on a team to return.  He just wants to use this to start a fight, so he can say it wasn't his fault."

            "Her nightmare was that detailed?"  Deanna looked horrified.

            "No, she actually only had a vague sense of something being wrong.  The rest of it comes from knowing how these guys fight and what Q has been baiting us with."

            "What now then, if you are sure that he at least knows about them?"

            "Watch the poker champ."  He set his jaw.  "Hail the sheep, it's fleecing time."

            "Well do we have a deal?"  The Gul sneered.

            "Actually you do. We have something that I know you want.  But to get it I want something from you."

            "There are to be no deals.  Turn over the research now and wipe the database or I open fire."

            "Give it your best shot.  Deal with my terms or I guarantee that the whole quadrant knows that you are using Genesis material."

            "You are bluffing.  You won't do anything of the sort.  If you really have proof that says Genesis it is classified.  You can't send it."

            "Try me."  The screen went blank, and not from Will's end.  "Well that answers that.  I'll bet a week's pay that he's got the away team stashed, and my bet's on the third ship.  The question is why are they playing this game?"

            "I guess we wait for the next hand."  Deanna tried to look calm as she folded her hands in her lap.

            "Captain, I am shocked.  Bluffing the Cardassians like that, it's not a nice thing to do.  Just your style and what I expected from you, but not nice."  Q had taken over Tina's chair.  "So, what's next?"

            "You tell me Q.  I am getting sick and tired of you popping in here, leaving a crumb and leaving.  Either do something useful or get off my ship!"  At the moment Will wished Worf were with them.  Between the two of them he could have a wonderful workout with Q as the punching bag and Worf as the sparring partner.

            "Captain, you are so fun to irritate.  No, at the moment I am just an observer of what is going on.  You are the one who wants to keep your precious Starfleet going, not I.  And you have your long lost brother back, doesn't that count for something?"  Q pretended to look at Tina's chair.  " I noticed that your pet officer isn't here.  What, couldn't stand the attitude anymore?"

            "She's saving the Federation for me.  It's her turn for that duty, I am saving the ship today.  We swap next month.  Now why are you here?"  Will voice was steadily rising in volume.

            "I'll tell you in a minute, I want to see this."  Q leaned into the chair and watched the screen.

            "They are hailing us."

             "Captain Riker, I apologize.  Perhaps we should discuss this matter further."

            _He's plotting something.  Try to get us back to the colony and closer to that other ship that he has stashed.  Make up something if you have to, just get us there._  Deanna thought to her husband.

            "I would be happy to discuss matters with you.  Why don't we return to your colony and we will collect what we left and give you all the data.  Then we will leave and you won't even have to report to your government.  No one has to know."  He didn't quite know why but it seemed to be the right thing to say.

            "Done.  Don't try anything.  Out."

            Will slumped.  "Now all we have to do is get the team, the information, and back home, without getting killed on the way out."

            "Don't forget Julie."  With the same smug look that he always wore, Q vanished.

            "What's that supposed to mean?"  Lesman muttered.

            Without comment, Will rose from his command chair.  He wasn't sure why but all he wanted to do at the moment was pace.  He figured that it would help.  He had called their bluff and now all he could do was wait and see they had in the hole.

            Tom had been listening.  Whoever was in charge of them had been smart enough to take their communicators and tricorder when they were beamed in.  The also had the sense to disable the translators on the guards.  What they hadn't figured was that one of the prisoners knew Cardassian.  There was no doubt in Tom's mind that they knew they weren't Cardassian, the bioscans on the beam up would have told them that much.  After his time in prison and the time he had been smuggling for the Maquis, Tom had a fairly strong command of the Cardassian language.  For the team this was good news.  He had been listening to everything that the guards had said since they had beamed in.  The downside to this was that he was fairly certain that whoever was monitoring them actually had the ability to listen to them, he knew that trying to speak to the others about what he had been learning would be difficult. 

            They had another ace that they Cardassians did not know about, Tina.  While he knew that she could not speak to him, she could read his surface thoughts.  He would be able to think about what he was hearing.  She would then be able to try to figure out if they could relay it to the other two in the cell.  The news he had wasn't very detailed but it would ease everyone's mind to know.  First he now knew that they were being held for leverage against Captain Riker; second they were being currently kept in quarantine for exposure to the virus on the colony.  The third was the one he held most dear, they had no clue who they were holding.  Apparently they did not run a DNA check on them.  All of this added to the best news of all.  While not being treated very well, he was almost positive that they would not be interrogated.  He framed an idea that he thought would get this to his commanding officer.

            "Tina," his voice broke what had been a very pregnant silence, "I was just thinking."  He emphasized the last word.  He saw LeBeau nod her head.  He at least had her attention.  "Deanna reminded me the other day how much we can learn when in silence."  Again he emphasized the last word.  He tried to make his statements sound like banter meant to ease being uncomfortable.  "I was thinking about listening to the silence and how much you can clear from you mind.  All the clutter that just collects there, waiting to be removed."

            A look of dawning came on the Commander's face.  "I remember that.  It had never occurred to must just how much the mind lets float around until I was forced into just sitting around like this."

            ""Just thought I would mention the positive things about being here.  What are your opinions on the subject?"  He looked at the others in hopes that they would pick up on the need to cover them at the moment.  He saw a very slight gesture from the First Officer and watched as the others started a very innocuous conversation.

            "Listening has always been my strong suit."  She leaned back against the wall of the cell, focusing on the man across from her.

            Tom tried to form the clearest ideas that he could, thinking about each idea separately.  He was rewarded by a relieved smile on the Commander's face, barely visible in the dim light.  


	12. Just Desserts

Chapter 12; Just Desserts

            "Stop it."  Deanna looked at her husband.  After taking a few minutes to leave to freshen up a bit she had returned to see him still pacing the room like a tiger in a cage.  She had managed to put up with this for twenty minutes, as well as his stewing.  The whole show had passed tolerable nineteen minutes ago; that was why she went to the ready room for a couple of minutes.  "We'll get them back, and we will get what we came for," she pause in thought, "without a diplomatic incident."

            "How can you be so confident about that?"

            "Well let me tick it off to you.  But first you are going to sit down.  You are driving everyone on the bridge batty."  She smiled as he obeyed her command with the efficiency of an Academy Cadet.  "First, for you and in some ways me, it would be too neat and clean not to have to ever worry about Tom again."  She noticed his mental bristle and sullen agreement.  "Second Tina is with them.  You know she has the luck of a God, I doubt this is so monumental that it has a chance of running out today.  The third, and most important is Q.  He wouldn't be here if we were going to fail."  Again she thought before continuing.  "Unless it was to be a very spectacular failure.  Which at this point if we go it will be with a whimper and not a bang."

            _I love you Imzadi._  "Correct one all points.  So, any ideas as to what the imp is supposed to do.  I don't think there is much time left in this little game."

            "Not one.  But if we even say anything to her it would change the whole thing.  So yet again we wait… patiently _Imzadi._"

            "Captain, they are hailing us again."

            "On screen."

            "Captain Riker," a new face peered at him.  This time however Will seem to see a vague resemblance to someone that he knew could not be there.  "I am Gul Lemec.  I apologize for the rude treatment that you received earlier."

            Will had to fight to keep a straight face.  He had a very intimate recollection of why the face seemed familiar now.  Gul Lemec had to be a relative of the Gul Lemec he had apprehended on Betazed several years ago.  Neither the name nor the face would ever wipe itself from his memory.  _Great just what I need, another piece of my past to haunt me.  What's next, Sela?_  "I was wondering if we could be of mutual service to each other?"

            "I like you Captain.  Definitely as straight forward as my uncle informed me, before he died."

            They only was that he could have had contact with his uncle was if he had been part of the prisoner exchanges after the war.  Will wondered what would have been worth letting that man go.  He mentally reminded himself that one very rotten apple did not necessarily ruin the barrel.  "At least my reputation precedes me."  _This is not going to be good._  He managed to remain civil.  "If you will let us retrieve our equipment and be on our way.  You get your research and we get our equipment and we'll go our separate ways."  He knew that he was rambling but at the moment it seemed that this was the only way to respond.  He hoped that the action would come across has him being a nervous person that was trying not to get in trouble with his superiors.  He could only hope that the man's uncle had not told him of exactly how he had been captured.  It would ruin the hand that he was bluffing.  The Gul had at least an ace high with the away team.  All Will had were a pair of deuces.  "This way neither of us has to report to our superiors."

            "I am afraid that will not be possible.  Captain Riker I am placing you under arrest."

            "On what charge?"

            "On the charge of treason and crimes against the Cardassian people.  The atrocities that you committed during the war must be answered for.  Destroying a space stain carries a penalty of death, regardless of it happening during a war.  I like you so I will give you five minutes to put your affairs in order before I take custody.  As an added bonus of my generosity, I will not demand your ship or your crew.  They are free to leave after I have you in my brig.  I will even return your away team if you don't try any stunts."  The channel cut.

            "You don't have any ideas about giving in to them, do you sir?"  Katie burst before she realized what was coming out of her mouth.  

            "Actually Katie I do."  Will did not wait for his wife to say anything before continuing.  He knew that he would get an earful as soon as he quit saying anything.  "First, did you get a lock on our away team?"  He knew her well enough now that he knew that she would have started looking for them as soon as had been possible.

            "Yes, I found them, on Gul Lamec's ship."

            "Good."  Now to face Deanna.  "Commander," he used the title to ensure that she stayed focused, "right now what would you say that our odds of him actually holding to what he says?"

            "Without us taking an initiative, somewhere between nil and no existent."

            "Katie, right now are they blocking sensors, and can you get a lock on out people?"

            No, they aren't and yes, I can get a lock.  They apparently don't have their communicators, but they are the only non-Cardassians on that ship. But unless they drop their shields I can't get them."

            Will gazed into his wife's ebony eyes.  "When Tom gets back have Alyssa get him out of Cardassian mode before she does anything else.  Even if she can only get his face and neck back before he gets up here, do it.  I want him on the bridge and talking to Gul Lemec before he has a chance to start barking at us having or team back under our own power.  If we are lucky, they will slam up their shields as soon as they recognize the transporter signature and they won't get me before they raise their shields again.  And make sure that Julie is up here as well.  I have a feeling that it is show time for her too."

            "As acting first officer I object wholeheartedly to this scheme of yours.  You cannot put yourself at risk like this."_  And I voice an even stronger objection as your wife.  Don't do this Will._

            "Objection noted.  Call it Captain's prerogative."  _Don't worry, this will all work out.  I have faith in this.  Call it one of Tina's hunches.  Besides, I you lose me, you still have spare._  The two embraced tightly, and she felt her give in to him, while lightening her mood from his remark.

            "Just get Tom up here as soon as you get him.  I am betting that they didn't do a DNA scan on them, why else would they have come after us; Tom and I register as the same person.  With that holding I am willing to bet that they will be really confused to see me standing here after they beam me into their brig."

            "And you want Jules up here to make it more plausible.  Make him think that you are standing here and that he arrested the wrong man."

            "Got it."

            "Are you sure you want her to do this?"

            "Q said that she was important to this.  Right now I can't see that she has done anything that would qualify in that department.  I am hedging a bet, it will make all the difference in the end."  

            "Very good Captain."  Q piped in.  "You finally figured it out.  Now can you still save your beloved Starfleet?"

            "I think so.  Now time is wasting."

            "Not necessarily, but as you wish.  But first let me thank you."  Q smiled as he saw the entire bridge crew's expression.  "Yet again humanity and you surprise me.  I thought that you would not figure it out.  As for the rest of your species, I would think that this little puzzle would be too hard to figure out.  You make it look pitifully easy.  Can you figure out why I wanted to watch you do this?"

            "Besides being insanely bored?"  Deanna quipped.

            "Yes Counselor, besides that."

            "Simple Q."  Deanna did not give Will as chance to speak, and she noticed out of the corner of her vision that he seemed rather amused.  "You figured that the idea of Tom being here and knowing that he had impersonated Will for covert purposes, by the order of Starfleet, would be more that we wanted to know.  You also figured that his enjoyment at doing so would rub us raw.  But guess what Q? We've all grown up.  If you had been paying attention to us during that damnable war you would have seen us learn how to temper expediency with mercy.  Every one of us has learned the value of sometimes having to work outside of the box.  You would have seen a cynicism develop that had not been their before.  Humanity has grown yet again.  We have also learned that sometimes a mistake sometimes takes generations to correct, but we do eventually fix the wrong that was made.  And I personally have learned to remind myself more frequently how much of a chronic pain in the ass you are.

            "I'm touched."  He did not get a chance to say anything else, and his words were cut off by the Counselor.  She wasn't done with him yet.

            "This entire mission you have done nothing but watch and bait us.  There has been no change of scenery, no trial, no goading.  Frankly this has seemed rather puny for you."

            She paused long enough for Q to get in a sentence or two.  "So you've noticed.  Call it the new me.  Every once in while it is more fun to just watch.  Oh it would be really boring to simply observe from the background but just once in a while I find the thrill in watching how people change their lines of thought just because they know that I am there.  Which in that respect you did not let me down.  But not in the way that I expected.  Now I just want to see how this turns out."

            Deanna was about to say something else but before she had finished opening her mouth Q was gone.  "Damn that man."

            "Sir you have two minutes."

            "Signal that we are ready from this end."  He looked at his wife.  "I'll be back.  I know that you won't let me be gone too long."  Allowing a brief hug, he entered the lift.

            "Damn it."  Katie Thompson slapped her console.

            "Please don't tell me that you didn't get the away team."  Deanna looked rather annoyed.

            "No sir, I got them.  But not before they got the Captain."

            "Get them up here. And get Alyssa to get the make-up off Commander Riker.  We have a poker game to finish."

            "They are on their way now.

            The four members of the away team entered the bridge together.  Shanar immediately went to the tactical station to assess what was going on.  Tom and Tina both took their stations as well.  It looked rather strange to see uniformed personnel simply leave their stations to what appeared to be Cardassians.

            "Where's the Captain?"  Tina looked none too pleased to not see Will.

            "They have him.  He used himself to get the four of you back.  Now it is our turn to rescue him."  She turned to Katie.  "Go get Julie and bring her up here.  You have however long it takes Alyssa to return Tom to his original form."  She raised an eyebrow at the Doctor.

            "I can do it within five minutes if I push it.  But in time I will only be able to get his face, neck and upper body.  It would take about fifteen to restore him completely."

            "Just get him looking like himself enough to have his face back.  You have five minutes Lieutenant."  She saw Katie nod and enter the lift.  Now she turned to LeBeau.  "Do you want Command?"

            "No, I think you have a plan.  I was not here to hear it, so you run the show.  I have another job."  She held up a chip.  "They took our equipment but they did not search us.  This managed to stay in my pocket.  It is a copy of they data that I downloaded.   I haven't sifted through all of it but I think that the only reason that the Captain's face was even known is because some of the final sequences did come from someone in Taldoran's employ.  I think he was just selling the information or he was hoping that they would do something this stupid and be even easier to take over.  My money's on the latter.  If we are real lucky there's a name in here.  If not, we still have enough for them to be in big trouble."

            "Get on it.  Get it ready to be sent off.  If this goes sour, make sure that it gets out.  Do what ever it takes but make sure that someone in the Federation gets it if we can't deliver it ourselves."

            "You got it."

            "Tom, I am going to ask you to do something.  I want you to be Will.  I want them to think that they have captured a double, an not the genuine article."

            As she finished Julie and Alyssa entered the bridge.  The bleary eyed child looked up.  "Tom!"  She ran and hugged the man who currently had a human face and a Cardassian neck.  "I was worried."  Knowing that the Doctor was working on him she retreated.  She saw a Cardassian looking woman in Tina's chair.  A small mental touch she was assured that it really was Tina.  She made a beeline for her Aunt.  "Daddy's gone isn't he?"  She stared at both her mother and LeBeau.  Both women allowed themselves a smile at the girl.  She had Deanna's accusatory stare down pat."

            "Yes honey he is.  Now I have to talk to some very not nice people to try to get him back."

            "No you don't mommy."

            _This is it.  Let's just hope she is right, whatever it is._  "I have to Little One."

            "Let Tom do it.  Since Tom looks so much like Daddy that we can't even tell them apart, I think the bad people won't know that it isn't.  They will think that Daddy is still here.  I know Daddy can talk to them and get anyone back.  Tom can too.  If they see Tom Daddy will be safe.  And we will get him home."

            "Go on."

            "I don't know how but I know it will work.  Tell Tom to talk to them like Daddy would and every thing will be ok."  She might be right.  Will's idea dovetailed on Julie's in that Tom was supposed to be him.  But that went only so far as to play on the identity question.  Julie's idea was more of a negotiation tactic.   From the empathic feedback of her daughter she would swear that the girl was thinking more of a counseling session that could only be done by Tom.  That is when it hit her.  Lemec, not the Gul on the ship, but the man's uncle.  When Betazed was won back from the Dominion, Gul Lemec had been the commander of Terok Nor.  Will had actually been the one to arrest him on the planet, while she was had been aiding her mother in overwhelming the Jem'Hadar.  This could not be completely about Genesis.  This was personal.  "Tom, are you ready to do it.  But I need to fill you in on the background you will be dealing with.  The Gul on the ship is the nephew of a man that Will apprehended during the war.  I think what Julie is trying to tell me is that this is a vendetta and not just about the discovery of these experiments."

            "I have a bad feeling about this."  Tina's shot her head up at the remark. "Commander, for me to do what you are asking, I have to impersonate a superior officer."

            "If this works, Nechayev will cover for you."

            "And if it doesn't?"

            "Then we both go up in flames.  This isn't a request, it's an order Commander."

            "Aye sir."  His tone was sullen, but the twinkle in his eye reminded Deanna how she learned to catch Will during a bluff, without using her empathy.  Tim was enjoying this.  Although Deanna was sure that he was very serious about making sure that he did his duty, she also knew him well enough to know that he liked the danger that was involved.  It was only another minute for Alyssa to finish returning Tom to his natural state, at least from the waist up.

            "Ok Captain," Deanna held a stern gaze, "you have the bridge.  But if we get in trouble, she's mine again."

            "Understood.  Hail them."

            "They are responding."

            "On screen."

            "Gul Lemec, allow me to introduce myself.  I am Captain William Riker."

            "What kind of subterfuge is this?  We have Captain Riker in our brig.  Now we on the other hand are missing four others from our ship.  Kindly return them and I will not open fire on your vessel."

            "Gul, I regret to inform you that we do not have anyone on this vessel that is not a member of this crew or part of a family that serves here.  As for the person that you have in your brig, there has been a monumental mistake in identity.  That is not Will Riker in your brig."  Tom noticed that Julie shot her head up at the remark.  "As you can see I am standing right here, now return my twin brother and we will simply end this."

            "You are lying.  You are not Riker."

            "Surely you jest.  Lemec, I know that you have a personal score to settle with me.  Now how would you feel if the rest of the quadrant to know that you arrested an innocent man, not because you mistook his identity but because you were bent on fulfilling a personal vendetta against the man who lawfully captured your uncle in a military action.  You cannot manage to hold the wrong man."

            No one noticed that Julie managed to sneak closer to Tina during the conversation.  She was feigning being scared, but in reality she wanted to see what she was doing and how she could help.  She felt that Tom was faltering a little and he was going to need a rescue.  She couldn't go to her mother, she was busy trying to help Tom and monitor the other man on the screen.  Tina was Julie's only hope of getting information from without having to speak._  Tom is not going to be able to hold out much longer.  Aunt T we need to give him something more real to hold out.  If we don't he will lose within a minute or two and we will be in trouble._

Tina had been on a lead, and now she worked even more feverishly than before.  Finally the trail had an end.  Lemec.  The single name made her heart leap.  They had stumbled right into the person they wanted.  He was the informant that had smuggled the information out during the Genesis crisis, and he was the one who bought the information from Taldoran.  And joy of joys, the time that the information was bought predated Will's capture by several years.  The only reason that Will was even known on that colony was because Tom had been caught smuggling aid to the colony.  With only a picture to use, Lemec obviously thought he had the man responsible for bringing down his uncle.  Now to try to get this to Tom.  Tina couldn't just shuffle it to his terminal.  He was too busy to notice.  She definitely couldn't just yell, and she had tried to speak with him telepathically but couldn't.  Deanna was out; she had her hands full just prompting Tom when she could.  That only left one option, Jules.  _Jules, I want you to try to reach Tom with telepathy.  Don't try to tell him everything, I just want his to look at his terminal, I have what he needs to win.  I think you can, I can't.  You just have to yell._  She wasn't sure that it would work but it was the only way shy of openly distracting Tom.

            _I'll try, T._  Julie straightened, showing remarkable patience for a five year old.  Like her mom had taught her, she took a deep breath and forced everything from her mind.  _TOM, LOOK AT YOUR TERMINAL._

Fortunately LeBeau had been listening for it.  By the time that she heard Jules she had already sent the data to the terminal.  Tom on the other hand had not been expecting it.  He had heard little prompts from Deanna during his exchange with Lemec; this was not her.  LeBeau had tried to reach him before and could not.  That only left Julianna.  He kept trying to keep the Gul's waning attention long enough to see what she wanted him to.  As loud he could manage under the circumstance he tried to think at Julie. _Thanks Pumpkin._  He did not know why he called her that but it seemed only natural.  He only could hope that she heard him.  "Lemec I am getting tired of this dance.  So let me spell out what is going to happen.  One you will turn Commander Riker over to me.  Second you are going turn you vessel around and leave this area.  If this doesn't happen not only will you find out just what it is like to be on the receiving end of my ire, but I also suspect that your government will want to make an example of you and charge you with treason.  We are in possession of documentation that proves that you stole Genesis technology both during the initial crisis and after.  We also know who you bought it from and when.  You are holding an innocent man for questioning that will lead to capital charges.  I know the Federation frowns on keeping prisoners on trumped charges and subjecting them to the kind of interrogation that you have planned.  After the war I also know that Cardassia openly frowns at the idea too.  By selling the information that you have, you have committed treason, even by your government's standards.  I am willing to allow you to leave here without informing anyone what we have learned.  We know that the experiment was a failure.  End it now and leave and we won't inform your people what we have learned."  He hoped that Julie could hear this one last send, to give them time to try to get the Gul as well.  _Pumpkin, I need you to tell Tina to try to get this man when we get your Dad. _

            "You have a deal on the condition that you can finally prove that you really are Will Riker.  Tell me what happened when you captured my uncle."

            Tom was stuck; this wasn't part of the script.  _Now what?_  He was about to try a suitable generic response when he heard Julie in his mind again.

            _Tell him that you fought him in battle.  I don't know what really happened but he needs to hear that his uncle was brave and that you are the better warrior._

"We fought each other in a prolonged battle.  He nearly killed me before I managed to capture him.  He was a superb soldier and an honor to your family."  While the Gul was definitely sure he was defeated he seemed to have a change wash over him.  It was as if on could see the vendetta urge wash away from him.  He was not chasing a coward anymore but a warrior that he could respect.  Tom regretted that he was about to give the man a reason to truly have a vendetta against him.

            "Very well.  Prepare to receive Commander Riker."

            Less than thirty seconds passed.  "We have both of them."

            "Helm, get us out of here before they can react to us having their Gul.  Warp 9.9 until we get to our side of the DMZ.  I am not in the mood to have to tell Jellico I was in command during another firefight."  Deanna gave the order and turned back to Tom.  "Well played, for only having a pair of deuces."

            It was several seconds later when the crew let out the sigh that they had been holding.  Julie had eased back over to the command center, first her mother absently taking her and then insinuating herself into Tom's arms.  "I heard you, and you heard me.  That was great!"

            "What is she talking about?"  

            Tina answered the question for the commander.  "The last piece of the puzzle.  Q had said that their interactions with each other would save the ship, and possibly the fleet, but that Tom was not the most important player in this game.  When I found out who had fenced the information I had to get it to Tom.  You were too busy trying to keep tabs on what was going on that you would not been able to relay that I needed him to see something.  I can't reach him, I've tried.  So I recruited the squirt."

            Just as Tina finished what she was saying Will stepped of the lift.  "Report."

            Lesman beat them to the punch line, "Sir, we are currently heading back to the DMZ with our tail proudly tucked between our legs.  ETA to Federation space 76 minutes and to DS9 in 11 hours.

            "Care to explain what just happened, 'Captain'?"  Will glanced at the man who was sitting in his chair.

            "Of course."  He did not make any attempt to remove himself from the Captain's chair.  "Not only did we get you back, but we also got the real information broker, Lemec.  And Commander LeBeau has managed to clear you of any possible trouble that you could be in from Nechayev.  The only reason that you were even mentioned was they had a picture of me when they were trying to get me, they thought that I was you.  What I probably overheard was what they going to do with you when they caught you."

            "Now that is some of the best news that I have heard this week."  He glared at Tom.  "Get out of my chair."

            "Aye…" Tom was distracted by something that he personally had never seen.  A brilliant flash of light occurred, leaving what looked like a human standing there.  He was wearing an up to date Fleet uniform and bore the rank of Captain.  He never managed to get out of the chair before this happened.

            "Well I see that you were right.  You saved the ship by sacrificing yourself while your pet Cajun saved the Federation."  He turned to Tina.  "Tell me Commander, you figured out Julianna's key input would be a simple mental shout across the room.  This ending was much less spectacular than I had hoped.  I expected better of you."

            Deanna had reached her breaking point.  Q may be nearly omnipotent but he was still a jerk.  She picked up where her earlier spiel had ended.  "You still don't get it do you Q?  Why do you only see melodrama in everything?  The most spectacular events in the universe don't shout 'Look at Me'; they show their worth by how seamlessly they interact with what is around them.  'Saving the Federation' isn't always grandiose.  Yes, I admit that sometimes it is a very grand adventure; I have personally been party to some of them.  Sometimes it is downright gruesome; again I have been there and done that.  Most of the time it is how we manage the day-to-day stuff.  'Saving the Federation' is not something that only occurs once in a while.  It is our job.  So it is not about grand plans, it is about how everyone works together for a goal.  No schemes, no grandstanding, just everyone doing what the need to do to get it done.  And just once in a while, we learn something we did not know before.  

            "Yes today, we saved the Federation, again.  But guess what?  I don't think that was the most important thing that happened.  Several of us managed to do things that stretched our knowledge and our horizons, in one-way or another.  And we did it without having to kill anyone."

            "So much like your Mother."  Q looked at the two Riker's who seemed to be taking a great amusement in all of this.  "Does she ever let a person get a word in edgewise?"

            Both of them answered at the same time.  "No!"

            Deanna did not know who she wanted to hit the most. 


	13. Coffee and Cordials

Epilogue; Coffee and cordials

            "Admiral, what are we going to do?"  All three of the Rikers sat in front of Nechayev's desk, with Commander LeBeau sitting to the side.  Deanna had been flanked by Tom and Will.

            "From here it is my job to see that this gets to the right people.  You four," she looked at every one of them, "have reports to file."

            "That's not what I meant Admiral."  Captain Riker continued.

            "I see, Tom."  She gazed into his eyes for a moment, trying to glean more of the man under them.  "Let me guess, you don't want to stay on the _Titan_ Tom?"

            "She's a good ship, and a hell of a crew.  But I don't think that it would be a good idea for me to be permanently assigned there."

            "Well, I have one idea if you are still wanting to keep the commission and the rank."  She saw a pride at the mention of staying active in the fleet that the man probably hadn't had since he had been rescued from Nervala IV.  "The _Trident_ needs and interim second officer.  It would only be for two months or so, but a recommendation from Captain Shelby would give you an excellent advantage on your next assignment."

            Will looked directly at Tom.  "I would take it.  Shelby is a great person to work with.  She served under me twice as first officer, once on the _Enterprise_ and again on the _Excalibur_.  I think the two of you will work well together."  Will chose to ignore the stare from Deanna.  But he did raise an eyebrow to the Admiral for the smirk that the Admiral wore. 

            "Admiral, if I may?  Are you sure that I would not have a problem there since the Captain has worked with Capt. Riker.  She wouldn't just label me strange and not listen to me."

            "Not on that ship.  You are probably one of the most normal ones there."

            "Then I'll take it if she will have me."

            While the Admiral explained to Tom that the _Titan _would take him to meet his new vessel, Deanna let her husband know what she thought.  _Will that was more than a touch sadistic.  You are well aware that you and Shelby fight every time you meet.  Tom is just like you in that respect.  They'll kill each other._

_            I don't think so.  I think it will do him good.  Shelby is a hard nose, but she is fair and ever since she married Calhoun she has gained almost a sadistic streak.  I think the two of them will actually fit.  Besides the first time he meets Morgan Primus on the _Excalibur_ he won't feel as unique in the physical appearance department._

            Deanna could only smile.


End file.
